Chaos Returns
by KBP Kohana
Summary: Ten years after the Allure of Chaos, Dick and Zatanna are having troubles in their marriage. Was Dick really unfaithful to Zatanna or could Klarion be up to his old tricks again. Rated: M just to be on the safe side..who knows what I'll write !
1. Chapter 1

**This is a sequel to Allure of Chaos :) It's set ten years later. Enjoy.**

* * *

Her hand lashed out, slapping him across the face, hitting the three scratch marks on his cheek. They split, little drops of blood started trickling down his face. Dick stared at Zatanna in shock. This was the first time she had ever lashed out at him. Sure, she had hit him before, but that was during training. Never before had his wife hit him in anger. Dick was 26, living in a penthouse apartment in Gotham with his wife of four years, Zatanna. Both of them were members of the Justice League, and Dick, as Nightwing, was still a member of the 'Bat Family'. He still patrolled Gotham, helped Batman, Robin and Batgirl, as often as he could. He knew what was coming, and it ate away at him inside. The slap was all the proof he needed. Zatanna knew he cheated on her.

"Everything we've been through! Ten years Dick! We've been together for ten years, married for four of those years. Do you even REMEMBER your vow to be faithful to me?" Tears were streaming down Zatanna's face as she flung his clothes through the bedroom door using her magic. Some managed to make it out the open balcony door. Dick didn't even move to gather them, instead he went straight to where he hid his Nightwing suits. He looked at down at his current one which was scratched, ripped, covered in blood. His mask was torn too.

"Of all the people to cheat on me with, why her Dick?" She was standing in the centre of the room staring at him. Her make-up was streaked down her face from tears.

"Zee, I don't know... I don't know what came over me," He averted his gaze, he couldn't bare to look at his wife like this. The last time he had seen her cry this much was when they were teenagers. It's true that he didn't know what came over him. He was on a mission out of town with Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, following up leads on an arms dealing. "We nearly died... there was just... so much adrenaline...and...then Babs just kissed me...and"

"Stop! I do NOT need to hear this! TEG TUO!" she screamed, sending Dick flying through the air to the balcony. "kcol srood." The balcony doors slammed shut locking themselves, the curtains flew shut. The last view he had of his wife was seeing her fall to her knees, hands over her face, sobbing uncontrollably.

**-0-0-0-0-**

"Batman to Zatanna, a magical disturbance is taking place in Star city, you're needed immediately." No reply. Bruce double checked the communication line was opening, and tried again. He took his cell phone out, pressing speed-dial 4, 'Grayson home' appearing on the screen as the call connected. The phone rang out, reaching the voice mail.

_'You've reached the Grayson home! We're either busy or don't want to talk to you,'  
'Dick that's mean!'  
'Anyway, leave a message, we might call back.' Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

Bruce sighed and hung up the phone. He opened a com line to Captain Marvel, sending him to the disturbance in Star city. He dialled Dick's cell phone next.

"What?" Bruce narrowed his eyes at the aggressive tone of his adopted son. "I can feel you glaring, spit it out already I'm busy."

"Are you in Gotham," Bruce was already suiting up. Clearly this was a conversation that needed to happen face to face. The call disconnected, or rather, Dick hung up. Something was off, Zatanna wasn't answer her radio and Dick was snapping. Yet again, there were problems with the Bat-family.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Nightwing was perched on the edge of the roof staring over Gotham towards his home. The curtains were still drawn since Zatanna kicked him out two nights ago. He had spent most of his time patrolling Gotham, while staying near to his home. She had to come out eventually, and once she was in public, she wouldn't use her magic on him. He needed to speak to her. His hair was tossed more so than usual, his face scruffy with stubble. Even though Batman approached him without making the faintest noise, Dick knew he was there.

"What is it Bruce..."

"That's what I'm here to find out," He stepped over to the edge of the roof, standing beside Dick. "I can't reach Zatanna."

"Well that makes two of us!" Dick snapped, averting his gaze from his apartment to glare at Bruce, as if they could really tell beneath the masks. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap..." He sat down on the ledge of the roof and sighed as Bruce placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Alfred prepared your room, come home, clean yourself up. We can talk about this tomorrow." Bruce stared up at Dick's apartment, and with the touch of a few buttons, the lenses in his mask zoomed for a better look. The curtains were drawn, but from the slight gap at the bottom of them, it was clearly dark inside. There was a brief flash of light which faded almost instantly.

"She's been casting spells non-stop," Dick stood, stretching out his cramped muscles. He needed to sleep. "I'm hoping it's just practise."

"I'll investigate tomorrow, let's go."

**-0-0-0-0-**

Zatanna's league communicator lay beside the muted telephone and her powered down cell phone. She sat in the middle of the living room, her legs crossed, magic books scattered in a circle around her. She was exhausted, but she knew if she stopped practising her emotions would overcome her. She closed her eyes and focused. She was getting better at casting minor spells without incantations. Her books floated from the floor, circling her slowly, pages flickering randomly. She sped up the rotation of the books, counted to ten, and released the spell. She looked at the book that fell in front of her, whatever page it was on had the next spell she would practise.  
_Fire: control and manipulate. _  
The list of fire related spells was three pages long. She knew most of them, fire was the first element of magic she worked with as a child.

_"Fire burn and cauldron bubble? Isn't that a little clichéd?" _Dick always showed an interest in her spells, always trying to catch what the spell was. When he finally worked out her favourite spell he had laughed so hard, bringing up some story about witches and a cauldron. She threw the book across the room and fought back a sob.

"ekam ti pots gnitruh" Her words were little more than a whisper, but a soothing sensation filled her body. She relaxed so much she failed to question the presence of magic that was not her own. She pulled herself up onto the sofa, curled into a defensive position and closed her eyes. Everything felt blissfully numb and she was soon drifting to sleep.

Klarion placed the blanket over her carefully, still focusing his magic on stopping her emotional pain. The previous night he sensed her magic being used sporadically. Not many magic users were able to carry their emotion into their work, but Klarion could sense Zatanna was hurting from the intensity of her magic. She had found out quicker than he thought. At first he watched her through a small portal, undetectable beneath the level of magic she was using. When she finally passed out from exhaustion, Klarion read her memories, finding out about the fight she had with her husband, gritting his teeth at the level of pain she was feeling. He decided to watch over her to make sure she didn't lose control of her magic.

"You deserve better than that my sweet..." He stepped back through his portal with a smirk, leaving her in a peaceful sleep.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Dick practically shovelled his breakfast into his mouth to avoid answering any of Tim's questions. Bruce sat at the head of the table, watching his sons who sat across from each other.

"So how are things with Zatanna? Thought about having kids yet? Is she coming over later?" Tim swallowed another mouthful of food, "Why did you stay here last night anyway?" Dick scowled at his younger adopted brother, using his spoon to flick a piece of bread at his forehead.

"Do you ever stop with the questions? Shouldn't you be in school or something?"  
Tim smirked, slyly flinging his toast like a frisbee at Dick, who blocked the incoming projectile with his knife, using it like one of his eskrima sticks.

"Master Tim, Master Richard, I would greatly appreciate if you would refrain from throwing food on the floor," Alfred sighed, removing plates from the table. "Also, your car will be leaving in five minutes Master Tim." Bruce couldn't help but smile. It was nice seeing Dick and Tim tormenting Alfred again. Tim ran out the door mumbling something about revenge later.

"You and Barbara were missing for almost four days with no communications," Bruce drummed his fingers in a rhythm on the table, "We were unable to locate you on any league systems, and a locator spell performed by Zatanna, and another by doctor Fate both failed." He noticed Dick's gaze drop, staring absent mindedly at the table.  
"You realise Zatanna was terrified at this stage Dick, she is your wife." Dick nodded, propping his elbows on the table and resting his head in his hands.

"I know Bruce..." Dick's guilt was eating away at his heart. The more Bruce explained about the searches they tried that day the worse the sinking pit in his stomach became.

"Eventually Zatanna resorted to magic she was only experimenting with. She put herself into a deep meditative state, and with Fate's guidance, she performed what I can only describe as an astral projective search. She called it Etheric travel." Dick shot up straight, staring at Bruce. He knew Zatanna was studying the more spiritual side of her magic recently, and he had heard her speak about astral projection and etheric travel before.

"An out of body experience, searching with her spirit while her body remained in one location," it was barely audible, but as Dick said the words something clicked in his brain. He had smelt her perfume that day, or at least he thought he did. He liked to think that was what snapped him out of whatever came over him.

"When she came back, she told us you were both fine. Then she left and we haven't been able to contact her since." Bruce's gaze was intense, all the compassion of a father gone. "What happened on that mission Dick?"

"She saw it... that's how she knew," Dick buried his face in his hands again, his fingers gripping tightly, nails putting pressure on his skin.

"I need to know Dick, you were away on official league business. Not only that, but Zatanna is my daughter-in-law, and I'm worried."

"I... me and Babs," Dick's sighed, if he said it, it was real. It was out there for everyone to know. He was nearly ripping his hair from his head, fighting back all the emotion which was absent when facing his wife. "We slept together..."

**-0-0-0-0-**

There were some times in his life that Conner really hated his super hearing. Now was one of them. He was walking with Mal towards some café where they were meeting Barbara and Cassie for a 'catch up lunch' as the girls called it. They were half a block away when Conner heard Cassie shriek, focusing his hearing on her in case she was in danger.

"YOU DID WHAT?" Cassie shrieked again.

"Keep it down Cas," Conner relaxed, it was just Cassie over reacting to something Barbara said. Nothing bad there.

"I know he's married! I don't know what came over me... I've always been attracted to Nightwing but..." Conner stopped suddenly, Mal not noticing for a few seconds. He knew he should stop listening, but after Barbara's last statement, he couldn't help but listen. He held a hand up to silence Mal as he turned to ask what was wrong.

"But but... Zatanna, how could you do that to her Barb, how could you sleep with her husband?" Cassie sounded really upset.

"Cas... Cassie! Come back, please!"  
He didn't need to hear any more. He told Mal he had an emergency and turned, heading the other direction. He pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialled Wally's number.

"Where are you? We have to talk. No, no don't bring Artemis, she'd probably set out on a murder spree..."

Conner was pacing under the bridge he agreed to meet Wally at. Sphere was rolling around, chasing wolf. A cloud of dust passed between the two as Wally skidded to a halt beside Conner.  
"Long time no see buddy! So what's all this hush hush secret meeting about?" Wally pulled his goggles off, shoving them into his jacket pocket.  
"I overheard Cassie and Barbara talking..." Conner fidgeted a little, knowing what he had to say wasn't going to go down well. "And I'm pretty sure Dick slept with Barbara..." The smile was instantly wiped from Wally's face, his eyes widened. He was Dick's best friend, and since her abduction years ago, he had grown close to Zatanna.

"Dude... are you serious? Artemis hasn't heard anything from Tanna lately," Wally ran his hand through his hair. His fiancée and Zatanna were best friends, and very protective of each other. He didn't know how many time's he had a glass of water magically dumped over his head whenever he upset Artemis. "Oh man she'll kill Dick... Does Tanna even know?"

"I don't know if she knows, I only overheard the girls talking," Conner sighed, "I think it was last week, when they were M.I.A."

"Well... time to go see Dick," He was already dialling his best friend's phone number. They had to find out the truth, see who knew and if Zatanna was okay, and more importantly, they had to make sure Artemis did NOT find out. Conner rounded up Sphere and wolf, sphere transforming into the super cycle, wolf jumping into his usual seat.

**-0-0-0-0-**

_'Keep calm Dick, there is no way they know...' _He was sitting in the over grown roof top garden of an old abandoned hotel in Old Gotham. Conner had suggested the location, they were arriving by super cycle and less people would notice it there. Wally didn't say much on the phone, just that they had to speak in person, immediately. He was still shaken after the realisation that Zatanna would have actually seen him cheat on her when she searched for him. Bruce's reaction to finding out was unusual. He was prepared for a beating, but Bruce just stood and walked from the room. The disappointment in his eyes just caused Dick's guilt to double. What would he do if his friends found out? Oh god... Artemis would kill him!

He looked up and managed a half-hearted smile as Wally and Conner both jumped out of the super cycle, getting to his feet to greet them. Before he even managed to open his mouth to speak, Wally had dashed over, punching him in the face. He'd managed to catch him off guard, sending Dick tumbling back into an over grown grass patch. He was glad Wally punched him and not Conner.

"I take it you know..." He sat up, rubbing the side of his face. That was definitely going to bruise. "How did you find out?" He could see the anger on Wally's face, his fists were clenched tight.

"Barbara told Cassie," Conner stepped forward, tapping his ear to indicate the super hearing.

"You better have a good explanation for this one Grayson," Wally nearly spat the words out. He had been the best man at his wedding, Artemis was the head bridesmaid for Zatanna. Dick and Zatanna were going to be the same at their wedding. The couples had double dated so often and been through so much in their line of work that they were like family. It was hurting Wally to think that might be over.

"I don't. Nothing I can say will fix this or make it any less of a betrayal than it already is," Dick buried his face in his hands again. He was so ashamed of himself that he couldn't look at his friends. "I don't even know what happened... one minute we were trying to get somewhere safe to radio for help... We got caught in the explosion and were in a bad way..." he shook his head, something Bruce said about the radios was bugging him, "next thing I know, Barbara was all over me... and I wasn't stopping her. I don't know what came over me..."

"You're right, nothing can fix this. Does Tanna know? Where is she?" Wally had turned his back on Dick. He couldn't stomach to look at him. He had seen the tears even though Dick covered his face. He really did regret it that much was obvious.

"The etheric travel..." Conner mumbled. After a questioning look from Wally, he explained about the search and Zatanna's odd reaction. "We assumed her behaviour was just from using an unfamiliar type of magic..." Wally narrowed his eyes. He was even more worried, knowing Zatanna knew, but hadn't sought to talk to her best friend. They spoke about everything. They were worse than him and Dick!

"Wait... you said that you were going to Radio for help?" Wally turned, staring at Dick. He was a mess. He walked over and sat beside him, Conner doing the same. Dick messed up, but he was still their friend. "But when Batman tried to search for you, he said your radio communication lines were down?"

"Yeah, there must have been some interference, they were still working on our end..." Dick's hands fell away from his face as things started to click in his brain. "But we weren't receiving any transmission from the league..." Dick looked at Wally whose eyes were narrowed. Conner looked at the two, he was clearly slightly behind on their train of thought, he'd always found it difficult to keep up with their brains.

"And Con, you said that Nabu and Tanna couldn't find them with a normal locator spell?" Wally mused, "You know, the locator spell that can find ANYTHING!"

"Including the wedding rings when my best man can't find them?" Dick smirked a little, twisting his wedding ring around his finger. Conner caught up at last.

"And you and Barbara both said you don't know what came over you...Something was stopping the league from finding you right?" Conner jumped to his feet, Wally also stood up, hauling Dick to his feet.

"Come on Detective, we have some investigating to do. This doesn't change what happened though, but at least you won't be anywhere Artemis can murder you..." They got into the super cycle and Wally called Artemis. Dick's eyes were wide as he sank down into the seat; Artemis was the one person he was actually terrified of in this situation. Wally had the phone at arm's length after he told her, her yells audible to all three of them.

_"WHEN DID, WHAT THE? WALLY WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME EARLIER! I'LL BLOODY KILL DICK! AND BARBARA TOO! WHO DOES SHE THINK S-"_

__"Babe, calm down please, just go to Tanna, and look after her. We'll talk more tonight." Wally ended the call quickly and looked at Dick wide eyed. "If she tries to kill you, you're on your own mate…"


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is very Klarion heavy :P Klarion lovers, enjoy!**

* * *

The banging on the door made Zatanna practically jump off the sofa. She moved the blanket off her, baffled as to how it got there. She narrowed her eyes. The only person who could sneak around without disturbing her was Dick. He must of broke through her enchantments and got into the apartment. She walked over to the front door, her enchantments were still in place, so he didn't come through here.

"Who is it?" She called out. The banging stopped.

"Tanny? Oh thank god, open up it's me, Artemis!" Zatanna sat with her back against the door and sighed. Her friends urgency was clearly a sign that people had started to hear about Dick cheating on her. Even though she loved Artemis, Zatanna didn't want to see her. She didn't want to see anyone. All her friends were Dick's friends too, and would just remind her of him.

"I'm sorry Arty... I can't. Not yet." She wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling them to her chest and resting her chin on her kneecaps. She could hear her best friend sitting on the other side of the door. Her voice was quieter and less frantic.

"Tanny, I know you're hurting, but please, I'm worried about you," Artemis sat cross legged, her head tilted back, resting on the door. "Do you need anything? I could beat Barbara senseless if you want?" She smiled a little, knowing Zatanna would never let her beat anyone up for her own sake. "Or Dick... I'd happily give him a black eye... or two." Zatanna's little chuckle fought against her sobs.

"No...no hurting people..," She stood up and opened the door, her blond friend toppled back, looked up at Zatanna from the ground and smiled. She had a case with her, one that Zatanna knew well. "You brought your bow and arrows?" Artemis stood up, picked up the case and walked into the apartment.

"I'd hoped that just this once you might let me actually hurt someone." She dropped the case as Zatanna locked the door again, recasting her enchantments to stop anyone coming in. Artemis hugged Zatanna the minute she turned around, wrapping her arms around her tightly. They sank to their knees together, Artemis holding Zatanna tightly, smoothing her hair down and making soothing noises as the magician sobbed uncontrollably into her shoulder.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Klarion closed his portal and gritted his teeth. The blond archer had shown up and was in the apartment. He yelled in anger, causing Teekl to jump. It was only a small hitch in his plans. He could easily cast a spell on Zatanna and get her to make the girl leave, but he swore to himself that he wouldn't try and control her any more. A smile played across his lips. He may not try and control Zatanna anymore, but that didn't mean he wouldn't control those around her. It was easy to sneak up on Nightwing and Batgirl, the two had been badly injured, their awareness of their surroundings very low. It was child's play casting spells on non-magic users. They couldn't even sense him coming.  
Blocking the leagues communications and two magical locator spells had been a little more difficult. The satellites proved trickier to block than he first thought. He had left the book on astral projection open on the etheric travel page two nights ago in Zatanna's apartment while she was out. Everything had worked just as he planned it, until now.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Artemis left late that night. She helped Zatanna clean up the apartment, cooked a big meal to make sure Zatanna ate, putting some in a container in her fridge for her to eat the next day.

"I'll be back tomorrow with some more food." She hugged her best friend tightly. Zatanna was feeling tired, admitting that she may of over used her magic the last few days trying to distract herself. She hadn't been able to eat much, saying she felt ill due to everything that had been happening. She spent a few hours watching old films, drifting in and out of sleep on the sofa. She couldn't bring herself to go sleep in their bed.

She had just started drifting to sleep again when she sensed it behind her. She jumped up suddenly, posed, ready to attack, just as Klarion fell through a portal. His clothes were ripped, blood seeping from many wounds on his body. Teekl was in his arms, the familiar was also in a bad way. Zatanna hesitated as Klarion looked up at her, he stumbled and coughed, blood spraying from his mouth.

"Please. Zatanna... help me," He collapsed on the floor, face first, his breathing looking laboured. Zatanna couldn't help but run to him, rolling him onto his back, placing his head on her lap. She hadn't seen Klarion since the night he tried force her to kill Dick, ten years ago. The Lord of Chaos even abandoned battles when the magician showed herself. Despite the hatred she felt towards him, there was still a part of Zatanna that cared about Klarion. He did love her, in his weird twisted way. She checked his wounds, they were rather severe.

"Klarion... I can't heal this much on my own..." She whispered softly, knowing he couldn't hear. He was unconscious. An idea popped into her head as she looked at Teekl. She focused her energy, closed her eyes and placed one hand on Klarion, the other on Teekl.

"laeH eht tsrow fo eht sdnuow," She could feel her body sway from exhaustion but focused on her magic. It was a little more difficult healing Klarion's wounds. He wasn't exactly human after all. Everything started spinning and Zatanna fainted, falling down on Klarion.

**-0-0-0-0-**

A stray beam of light fell across Zatanna's face causing her to groan and turn her head against the light.

"Ow... Zatanna, that kind of hurts..." Klarion mumbled. Zatanna shot up, remembering she had been trying to heal Klarion last night. She looked around the room, Teekl was playing with the curtains. Klarion was still lying on the ground looking beat up. The worst of his wounds were healed, his minor ones healing.

"Thank you, you probably saved my life last night...ow!" Zatanna pushed him as she backed away. "Look I know I don't deserve your help, but I didn't know who else to turn to," He winched as he sat up, ruffling his hair.

He had changed a lot in the last ten years. Even though he was technically ageless he looked older than before. He was taller, not as skinny as before, a bit more filled out, but still had that 'lanky' look about him. His hair was long, falling in a mess down to his chin. He had ditched the tailored suit look, sporting more casual clothes, or at least they were before whatever attacked him destroyed them.

He stood up and stumbled, "in my home, the dimension I'm from, there is all out war... I should be able to heal myself in a few hours, then I'll leave you be." Zatanna didn't know why, but when he stumbled again, she jumped up, putting a supportive arm around him and helped him to her sofa.

"I'll get you some new clothes..." She ran into the bed room, pulling out a random pair of jeans and a t-shirt from Dick's side of the wardrobe. She stared at them for a moment before walking out, handing them to Klarion. "You might have to shrink them to fit. If you don't have enough magic, I can do it for you... I'm going to shower..." She looked at Teekl who was still playing with the curtains. "And make the cat stop that... I don't need people looking in and seeing you here."

**-0-0-0-0-**

When Klarion heard the shower running he changed into the new clothes. She was right that he needed to shrink them. He moved and sat on the other sofa and grinned at Teekl who ran and jumped onto his lap. It wasn't part of his plan to appear to her like this and lie, but it worked. She still had a soft spot for him, even though it was from fabricated memories. He stroked Teekl, apologising for hurting the familiar. It was at times like this, when speaking out loud wasn't safe, that he was glad of the psychic link he shared with Teekl.

_'I know it hurt, I didn't exactly go easy on myself either... Did some serious damage.'_ He stretched out his limbs. He attacked himself so severely that he barely managed to open the portal before passing out. He closed his eyes and relaxed. He heard the shower stop so pretended he was asleep again. He used the psychic link with Teekl to start seeing through his familiar's eyes, sending instructions to him.

Zatanna glanced briefly at Klarion. He had moved over onto Dick's sofa and was asleep. It bothered her that from her view, it looked like Dick was home. She walked into her room, and dried herself off. She decided it was best to save as much energy as she could with a lord of chaos sleeping in her living room and got dressed the 'normal' way. She didn't notice Teekl slink into the room and stare at her. She was in her underwear staring into her wardrobe. A smile spread across Klarion's lips as he watched her through Teekl's eyes. She picked a long sleeve black knit dress and slipped it on. Something seemed to catch her attention as she sat on the edge of her bed. It was her wedding ring. Klarion's smile faded when he saw the tears forming in her eyes. Yet again it was his fault she was crying.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Dick, Wally and Conner were only slightly surprised to see Batman when they landed. He had the same suspicion as them and was doing his own investigation. Dick was still unable to look him in the eye. After searching the area and turning up nothing, Dick was beginning to regret being hopeful that something else might explain his actions. Batman signalled them to fall in.

"Radio and satellite are functioning fine. Doctor Fate's location spell was also successful." He looked at Dick, "he is also analysing the recordings of the time of the incident. If anything is evident, it's that something was preventing us from finding you, as to your actions though..."

"I know... Even if we can prove something was happening here, there is no way to say if it was the cause of..yeah.." Dick sighed, turning his wedding ring around his finger again. He looked at over to Wally, "Any news from Artemis?"  
Their communicators suddenly buzzed. Batman activated a loudspeaker for Wally's sake, who no longer had a league communicator.

"The signs were faint, I believe in our desperation to find Nightwing and Batgirl, that myself and Zatanna over looked the trace of mystic interference with our systems." Wally couldn't contain himself, bro-fisting Dick at this information. They had been right after all!  
"Doctor Fate, would there be any way of telling if that mystic interference would of um..." Dick tried to think of a way to ask if it could be the cause of him and Barbara sleeping together, but remembered Zatanna's father was still in there, and he would probably turn him into a slug for hurting his daughter.

"I think what Nightwing wants to know is if there is a way of telling if he and Batgirl were affected by whatever magic was being used there..." Dick literally wanted to hug Conner.

"It may be possible, it would require returning to the time frame within their minds. However, the same interference is happening at one other location right now. Nightwing, it's at your home."

**-0-0-0-0-**

Zatanna looked down as Teekl purred, rubbing against her leg. She picked the cat up stared at it.

"Sometimes I think Klarion is lucky to have such a loyal little companion," She wiped a tear from her eye and carried Teekl out to the living room, scratching the cat behind the ear. She sat on her sofa and looked at Klarion. He opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Teekl likes you," He pulled himself off the sofa, and walked over to sit beside her. "It's none of my business Zatanna... but it's obvious something is wrong." She recoiled a little from his light touch on her arm, her memories of the pain he inflicted on her still fresh in her mind.

"You're right... it is none of your business. What made you think I wouldn't just kill you if you showed up here?" She hugged Teekl closer, the familiar meowing in delight as Zatanna petted it. Klarion's smile dropped.

"Zatanna, I owe you a lot of explanations, I know that," He looked away from her, wringing his hands, trying to find the best way to word his feelings. "I'm a lord of chaos. I live off chaos. All I ever knew in my life was chaos. And then there was you. That night you summoned me I saw something in your eyes that made me stop myself from hurting you." He turned his head slightly, glancing at her. "I started to fall in love with you and it scared me." Zatanna couldn't even respond. She just stared at him as he poured his soul out to her. In the last ten years he had matured, his childish streak seemed to be gone.

"I didn't know how to act, I'd never felt love before. I was selfish and greedy. I wanted you all to myself, just expecting you to love me back without earning your love. After you banished me..." He sighed and shook his head, "I watched you for a while... I saw how you and...him. I saw what love was really like. I hated myself for what I did to you. Not only did I beat you but I tried to control you," He turned, gently taking her hand. Teekl jumped out of her arms and ran into another room. Zatanna stared into his eyes. He was sincere. Everything he was saying was true.

"I swore to myself that I would never do that to you again. Whenever you were sent against me, I was afraid to even look at you... I knew you hated me and I didn't want to hurt you, so I ran from the fight." His voice caught in his throat. This was the most he had ever spoken about his own feelings to anyone except Teekl. "My whole life... I've only known Chaos..." He tightened his hold on her hand and she didn't stop him, "Chaos... and you."

He went to stand, loosening his hold on her hand, but to his surprise she pulled him back onto the sofa and hugged him. He cautiously put an arm around her. He could feel her trembling and knew she was crying again.  
_'I hate doing this to her again...'_  
"I am sorry, I really am..." He whispered gently to Zatanna, "I know I can't make you love me but I can be here for you. I love you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah I realise this is the shortest chapter so far, sorry about that ^^; I'll update again tomorrow.. Having a little trouble writing this story because every time I make something happen I either want to fix it or ruin is straight away XD  
**

* * *

**-0-0-0-0- Chapter 3**

Conner took the super-cycle and wolf and headed back to Mount Justice, saying he would meet them in Gotham with Superman. Wally and Dick joined Batman in the Batwing, Dick suited up inside. They were both shocked when Wally suddenly appeared in his Kid Flash uniform.

"What? I keep it handy in case of emergencies." Wally shrugged. "Should I call Artemis? Get her to meet us there?"

"NO! I mean, um, wouldn't she be angry to see you suited up?" Dick was panicking _'I'm too young to die.' _There was silence for the rest of the journey.

They met Superman and Conner on the roof of a building facing Dick's apartment. Wally activated the thermal imaging in his goggles as Nightwing pulled up his holographic computer, starting a scan of the penthouse, Batman was doing something similar.

"This doesn't make sense, we know she's in there," Wally turned off the thermal imagining, "But I'm not picking up any heat sources. None at all. The apartment below is showing heat signatures from water pipes, heaters, everything." He looked at Nightwing, "But nothing from your place at all man."

"I can't hear anything either," Conner grumbled.

"I'm assuming you lined the whole place with lead, because I can't see a thing with my x-ray vision," Superman looked at Batman, who nodded. He had lined the apartment with lead a few weeks before Zatanna and Dick moved in.

"You should still be able to see through the windows though," Dick was starting to worry. He knew Zatanna had cast enchantments to keep him out, but he didn't realise they could be this strong. "I guess you learn to hide yourself when you know what we're capable of."

"No, this is more than her enchantments Nightwing." Doctor Fate appeared behind them, Nightwing side stepping so Batman was between them. There was silence for a few moments as Fate flew over towards the apartment, falling backwards from an unseen force. After another analysis of the unseen barrier surround the apartment, it became obvious that Fate wouldn't be able to approach due to his own magic. Nightwing and Batman managed to get slightly closer.

"Right. Next part of the plan?" Nightwing looked as Batman who held up a gadget to his mouth.

"Zatanna, please come out to the balcony," Batman's voice boomed from the shadows.

**-0-0-0-0-**

"Zatanna, please come out to the balcony," Batman's voice shocked Zatanna upright. She looked at Klarion in a mild panic. If they were outside were they able to see him? You could never tell what the Bat's were capable of. She helped Klarion get up, and headed towards the spare room, which Dick had converted into a training room.

"Please, stay here!" She closed the door after gently nudging Teekl into the room too. Klarion grinned. She was willing to protect him.  
She unlocked the balcony doors and stepped outside, making sure the curtains stayed shut when she closed the door. She looked at the surrounding buildings.

"Six of you. Really?" She yelled out. A batarang landed on the ledge of the balcony, a new communicator attached to it. She sighed and put it in her ear. "What's going on? Did you really have to use a megaphone and announce to the entire neighbourhood that you wanted to talk?"

"Yes we did," Batman's voice was like steel. "There is a magical shield surrounding your entire apartment. We haven't been able to reach you any other way." She didn't reply, and just rolled her eyes and went to remove her communicator. Did they really think she was going to sit in there and cry without blocking them from contacting her?

"It's more than your magic Zee. I know your enchantments, this isn't them." Her hand froze as she heard Dick's voice. It had nearly been a week since she kicked him out, and hearing his voice felt like a kick in the gut.

"He's right Zatanna," Another kick in the gut, it was her father's voice. "It's prevented radio contact, satellite imagery, thermal imaging, Super hearing and locator spells. Does this sound familiar to you?" She clenched her fists. What were they trying to do?

"Nabu, let my father know that Nightwing cheated on me with Batgirl. He broke my heart." She flung the communicator from her ear and went back into her apartment, locking the door behind her.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Dick felt like he was frozen on the spot. He could feel Nabu's gaze from the other roof top before he vanished in a flash of golden light.

"...He's going to murder me..." Dick mumbled as he grappled back to the other roof top. Superman pulled Batman aside, speaking in hushed voices.

"Dude, if Fate and Artemis bump into each other today you're a dead man," Wally actually managed to look genuinely concerned. "The minute she was on the balcony the thermal imagining picked her up. You should be able to get to balcony at least. How about it Superboy? Up for a… dude are you okay?" Dick turned and looked at Conner, his eyes were wide and he was pale. Wally waved a hand rapidly in front of his eyes.

"Nightwing... come here." Batman called from the other side of the roof. He left Wally to annoy to Conner. Superman put a hand on his shoulder and smiled as he passed.

"Sit down," Bruce pulled his cowl off and sat on a bench, gesturing to the other half for Dick, who also removed his mask and sat down. It was unlike Bruce to sit after requesting someone else to. "When Zatanna stepped out on the balcony, thermal imagery, super hearing and x-ray vision all detected her."

"Yeah, Wally said as much. Bruce is everything okay?" Dick was really concerned now, Bruce was slightly pale. He looked up at Dick and smiled.

"Superman heard two heart beats and saw …well..." He put a hand on Dick's shoulder, "Zatanna is pregnant. You're going to be a father." Dick could only stare at Bruce, his mind attempting to understand what he just heard.

"...I'm… wait..." He leapt to his feet and looked from Bruce to Superman, "You're serious?" Superman looked across the roof and nodded.

Wally ran over, "Dude what's up? Everyone seems to know something except me!"

"Zatanna's pregnant..." Dick paled suddenly, stumbling backwards. Bruce and Wally helped him onto the bench. He didn't even try to hide the tear that rolled down his face. "...I...I cheated on my pregnant wife..."

**-0-0-0-0-**

He heard the balcony door's slam shut, and something smash. Klarion heard Zatanna's sobs and ran up to the living room. She was on the ground, curled up in a defensive position sobbing, with blood flowing from her hand. He ran over and scooped her up into his arms.

"Zatanna what happened? Did they hurt you?" He put her down on the sofa and took her bleeding hand. He looked closely, using his magic to pull out tiny shards of glass and repairing the damage. He felt something odd from her.

"I...no, I couldn't stop myself." She pointed over to a broken photo-frame. There were small droplets of blood on the photo. He picked it up, and smiled a sad smile. It was a photo of her and Dick on their wedding day. She looked so beautiful, so happy. He fixed the glass, and removed the blood from the photo, setting it back where it belonged.

"Zatanna... please tell me what happened...what has he done to upset you so much." Klarion sat beside her, putting a hand lightly on her knee. He closed his eyes and searched. He had felt something weird when he healed her fist.

"Dick, he cheated on me and I kicked him out." She senses Klarion's search and knocked his hand away, "Klarion what are you doing?" He looked up at her. He could tell her, or he could get rid of it. If she knew, she would probably go back to him.

"Zatanna, I think you're pregnant." Klarion whispered. He wouldn't hurt her. He wouldn't steal her future child from her. Zatanna stared at him blankly,

"That's not possible." She ran to the kitchen, practically ripping the calendar from the wall counting back the weeks. She paled before sitting down and closing her eyes. "Three weeks late. How the hell did I not notice? Oh god." She started hyperventilating. Klarion appeared beside her and tried to calm her down.

"You have to calm down Zatanna," He handed her a glass of water, "Also, you need to be careful using your magic from now on, and who knows how much of your energy the babies will use up."

"BABIES?" Zatanna's eyes shot open.

"Twins," his arms were around her, catching her just as she fainted.

Zatanna woke up in her bed, Klarion was sitting beside her. He was on Dick's side of the was in Dick's clothes. He told her she was pregnant, he was comforting her while she was hurting.

"Klarion, I need to see my husband. I think you, I think you need to leave," She rolled onto her side so her back was facing him. She was too confused and emotional right now. She didn't trust Klarion enough to be around him like this, especially in a bed. She felt him move closer to her, his hand reaching for hers. He put something in her hand, kissed the back of her head and walked out of the room.

"It was my mothers. If you need me, call me through that." He reappeared in the door way, Teekl in his arms. He didn't look very happy, being cast out so suddenly, but he smiled when she looked at the necklace in her hands. It was white gold chain with a black gemstone, shaped like a tear drop.

"Klarion Bleak. You'll need to say my full name. I'll appear instantly for you." He turned and disappeared through a portal before Zatanna could say anything. She stared at the necklace in her hands. It was beautiful. Something about it soothed her.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Dick landed on the balcony just as the curtains were pulled open. Zatanna and Dick stared at each other in shock for a moment. She removed her enchantments and opened the doors.

"Dick, I haven't forgiven you, I don't know if I- " Zatanna stopped, noticing Dick's tears. She stepped back from the doors, turned, and walked back into the apartment. She froze and bit into her lower lip as Dick's arm found their way around her, holding her gently. One of his hands rested just over her womb. She leaned back into his embrace, feeling the tears drop onto her shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.

"Zatanna, I can never apologise enough to you," his voice was wrecked, she assumed he had been crying a long time. "Superman.. he…he saw-"

"That I'm pregnant..." She put one hand over his, her other hand, reaching up to his face. She took a deep breath. She wanted to stay angry with him, but right now she was emotionally exhausted. Klarion had mentioned the babies using her energy, and it really felt that way. She didn't know how long they stood like that, they were both crying silently. Zatanna's league communicator on the desk buzzed to life, as well as Dick's which was in his ear.

"Batman to Zatanna and Nightwing. About 20 minutes ago, all interference dropped. What changed?"  
Zatanna pulled away from Dick, a chill running down her spine. Klarion had left about 20 minutes ago. She thought about the things Nabu had said over the communicator. She was so shocked to find out she was pregnant, she was only thinking about it now. She sat down, her head was spinning.

"Zee?" Dick was on one knee in front of her, studying her face. He knew she had just realised something. She knew what the change was. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"...Klarion… did... no..." She grabbed either side of Dick's head, "nepo ruoy dnim!" She jumped into Dick's memories, racing back to the mission he went on with Batgirl.

They were stumbling, supporting each other's weights as they made their way to the coast. _  
"We have to call help. There is no way I can stay conscious long enough..." _Nightwing buckled, his weight causing Batgirl to crash to the ground with him. Zatanna could sense it even through his memories. Dick probably would of noticed it himself if he hadn't just been caught in an explosion.  
_'Tegrof ruoy eurt evol, evol eth eno txen ot ouy'  
_Dick's vision had blurred, next thing he was aware of was Barbara wrapped in his arms, kissing her fiercely.

Dick pulled Zatanna's hands away from his head. She didn't need to see any more. He shook his head, trying to forget the memories himself. "Fell free to erase what happened next…" He held her hands as he lowered them to her lap.

Her eyes were wide. He didn't know what she had seen as he could only feel her running through his memories, which were no different for him than they usually were. She launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around Dick and sobbed. "It wasn't you, you weren't in control." She collapsed, her body going limp in his arms.

"Zee? Zatanna... Zatanna what's wrong?" Dick looked at his wife, she was pale and drawn, but there was a smile on her lips. He carried her into the bedroom, placed her gently on the bed and touched his communicator.  
"She mentioned Klarion then forced her way into my memories. She passed out," Dick walked around the apartment, checking everything was safe before stepping out to the Balcony, just at Batman landed beside him.

"Go, watch over her. I'll stay here."


	4. Chapter 4

**Soo as promised- MY UPDATE!  
**

* * *

Zatanna woke slowly, feeling strong arms wrapped around her. For a moment she feared it was Klarion, until she opened her eyes and saw Dick's arms, his hands, and the wedding ring on his finger. All the pain she had been feeling the past week was gone. Dick didn't cheat on her, at least by choice. Klarion had put him and Barbara under a spell. She rolled around in his arms, smiling as she was met with a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Are you okay Zee?" He sat up, pulling her onto his lap, "You collapsed after you forced your way into my head..." He raised a brow. Zatanna had always considered it taboo to enter someone's memories without permission and here she had done it to her husband.

"I had to check Dick, I'm so sorry," She smiled at him, "But you didn't cheat on me."

"Uhm… While a part of me is going to regret disagreeing with that statement, I'm afraid I have to.." He shook his head, "We both know I did Zatanna."

"Klarion had you under a spell!" She flung her arms around his neck. "It wasn't you. You didn't choose to do it. He forced you" She nuzzled into his neck, his arms holding her close. His heart was pounding in a mixture of joy and anger. He gently pushed his wife back. The anger and suspicion fought past his joy.

"You mentioned his name before you went into my mind." She got off his lap and pulled on a clean dress, hoping to avoid the conversation that was about to happen. Dick sighed, pulled some fresh clothes from the wardrobe and picked up a towel. "Bruce is in the living room, tell him what you found out. I need a shower."

**-0-0-0-0-**

"And you're sure of this?" Bruce accepted the coffee from Zatanna gratefully. She nodded, sipping her own coffee.

"Positive. I searched Dick's memories, and I sensed him. I even heard the spell he used." Dick walked past Zatanna on the way to his sofa, taking the coffee out of her hands.

"Bad for the baby!" He grinned, he was loving the idea of having a child now that he wasn't being eaten alive by guilt. "But Zee, how did you realise it was something to do with Klarion. You said his name before you went through my mind. It was after Bruce radioed us." He stared at the ground, not wanting to look at her. The necklace he found in the bedroom was in his pocket. He knew she didn't own anything like this, and it was unlikely that she had been jewellery shopping in the past week. Bruce was staring at Zatanna. He'd obviously caught onto Dick's questioning.

"…yes he was here..." Her head dropped. Klarion had clearly tricked her again, manipulating her with her emotions. She felt angry and betrayed, remembering everything he had said to her. "He…He was injured and I helped him. He seemed so sincere…"

"What were you thinking? Have you forgotten he almost KILLED US?" Dick was on his feet, his anger rippling through him. He took the necklace from his pocket and flung it to the ground, "I'm assuming that came from him as well!" Bruce had jumped to his feet and had one had on Dick's chest, stopping him from getting any closer to Zatanna while he was angry. There were tears threatening to overflow from her eyes as she knelt down and picked up the necklace. "WHAT THE HECK ZATANNA? Don't you see what he's doing? He's PLAYING you again!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Bruce pushed Dick across the room, "You know as well as she does how manipulative Klarion can be." Dick stared at his wife as she carefully held the necklace in her hands. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down.  
"Did he touch you?" His fists were clenched by his side. Zatanna stood up, now she was angry too.

"ASK WHAT YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW DICK! Did I cheat on you with Klarion?" She felt a knot twist inside her. She knew Klarion was the reason Dick cheated, he probably was trying to turn her against Dick to get her. "No I didn't. He was a perfect gentleman unlike _someone_ else right now!"

"Both of you cut this out! Zatanna, the necklace," Bruce held his hand out for the necklace. She held the necklace tighter and shook her head.

_'It was my mothers'_

"No." That pushed Dick over the edge, he stormed down the hall, into his training room and slammed the door. She sat back on the sofa, clutching the necklace in her hand. "I'm sorry Bruce. If I'm giving this to anyone, it will be back to Klarion. It was his mothers and it was given as a gift, not a trick."

"Zatanna, I'm afraid Dick may be right in this situation. You're not safe right now, not with that here," He gestured to the necklace, "Think about your baby."

"Babies." Zatanna smiled, resting her hands protectively over herself. She wouldn't even know she was pregnant if it wasn't for Klarion.

"...Babies? Plural? You're having twins? Are you sure?" Bruce tried not break the seriousness of the current situation, but he couldn't help but smile.

"Yes," She smiled, slipping the necklace into her pocket. Klarion wasn't the only tricky one. "Bruce, you do realise you're going to be a grandfather right? I wish I could see my father, my actual father, not Fate, and tell him." Bruce stood up and walked to the balcony doors.

"I'll talk to him Zatanna." He opened the doors and stepped outside, "Mind my grandchildren," He smiled, pulling his cowl back on, "Granddad Bats eh?" He laughed a little, closing the door behind him and jumping to the next building.

_'Well that was easier than I thought…'_

**-0-0-0-0-**

Dick stared in anger at the scratch marks on the wall. They were cat scratch marks. He'd been in here too. He punched the punching back once more as the door opened a fraction.

"Dick, can we talk?" Zatanna didn't step into the room. Dick couldn't look at her right now. He was too angry. "It's about the pregnancy," He sighed, and sat in the clearing in the centre of the room.

"C'mon then," She smiled and walked in, sitting opposite him. There was a large space in the room, with a circle outlined on the ground. It was used mainly for hand to hand combat training, occasionally being used as a 'neutral zone' to settle any disagreements.  
"He was-" She cut him off with a raised hand. She had asked to talk, therefore she got to go first. She took a deep breath.

"I've been trying to tell you this all day Dick. We're having twins." She inched closer to him, she just wanted things to go back to normal. "I think I'm about 5 weeks pregnant. I'm not sure. I'd need to see a doctor."

"Twins?" He looked around at his training room, "Well… we're going to need a bigger place!" He reached forward, pulling his wife into his arms and hugging her. It was difficult to stay angry when she had such good news.  
He slipped his hand into her pocket and pulled out the necklace, still holding her in a tight hug, "This has to go Zee…" He whispered softly and tossed it so it landed by the scratch marks on the wall. She tried to pull away from him, towards the necklace, but he held her back too tightly. She could feel him taking deep breaths to calm himself. Fighting in the neutral zone was a major no-no in their relationship.

"I'm going to put this all down to pregnancy hormones Zee." He held her tight around the chest, avoiding putting any pressure where the babies were. "We have to talk about this. You know how I feel about Klarion, after all the things he did to you. To us…" She stopped struggling. "That you could have him here... in our home... It hurts babe. He made me cheat on you. He tried to rip us apart, again!"

"I know, I mean, I know _now_ that he did that but…" she struggled for words. She really didn't know why she helped him. It didn't matter how much she tried to explain that he changed, because now, it didn't seem that way. Everything he said, about how he loved her and didn't want to hurt her ran through her mind. He had been different, he had been gentle. She glanced at the necklace. She had to pick it up, she had to have it close to her.

"I didn't know then. I was confused Dick, I thought you and Barbara and ... He was different Dick, he really was!" She pushed back from her husband and saw the mistrust and hatred in his eyes. It didn't matter if Klarion became a saint, Dick would never believe he changed. She couldn't blame him, Klarion had tried to kill them, and also led Dick to believe that he had actually raped Zatanna. He only found out the truth when Black Canary had helped them talk about everything that happened.

_'Zatanna…' _She looked at the necklace. She could have sworn she heard her name. Dick turned her face back to look at him.

"Stop Zatanna! Why is that thing so important to you?" She pushed Dick back and jumped to her feet, but his reflexes were too quick. He was on his feet in a split second, his arms wrapping around her torso from behind.

_'Zatanna, help me' _She struggled against Dick, the only thing she could think about was the necklace.

"TEL OG FO EM!" she yelled, making Dick's arm loosen their hold. She hadn't even taken a step before her eyes rolled back, her mind going blank. Her body buckled and started to crash to the ground.

"ZATANNA!" Dick reached out, managing to grab her by the back of her dress, pulling her backwards before she crashed to the ground. He hit his communicator, "Batman!"

"Already on the way with Fate." Batman had contacted Dick the moment he left the apartment, telling him he would be coming back with and that Zatanna had pocketed the necklace, refusing to hand it over.  
He shook Zatanna lightly, "C'mon baby wake up.. What happened, Zatanna, please!" She was paling quickly, her temperature dropping. He checked her pulse, it was faint but it was there. "Zatanna open your eyes!"

**-0-0-0-0-**

Dr. Fate levitated the necklace into a glass jar, placing enchantments around it to stop Zatanna touching it. He had tried to pick it up himself, but the chaos magic linked too it had been to powerful. It was a relic from Klarion's world, bound to the owner and the recipient. Zatanna would be connected to Klarion at all times once she was touching the necklace, and would be drawn to it if it was out of her possession.

"She should be protected against its powers once the enchantments remain in place," Dr. Fate reached up, and to Dick's shock, removed the helmet of fate.

"Giovanni, has Fate released you?" Bruce walked over, clapping one hand on his friends shoulder, taking the other in a firm hand shake.

"Just for me to see my daughter," Giovanni smiled, reaching out to Dick, "My son-in-law, it is good to see you. I'm sorry I could not be there to see you wed my daughter."

"I'm sorry I didn't ask you sir," Dick smiled, he wished Zatanna could be awake to see her father, but understood that she would fight to prevent him from putting the helmet back on. "Zatanna, she's pregnant. With twins." Zatara sat down, tears were starting to stream down his face.

"I've missed so much of my daughter's life.." he covered his face as Bruce moved to comfort his old friend. The two had a hushed conversation, but Bruce's face remained grim. Eventually Giovanni stood up, ending their conversation.

"Homo Magi babies feed off their mothers magic. It will be a difficult pregnancy with twins." He walked to the bedroom where Zatanna lay, and sat beside the bed. Dr. Fate had placed a protective shield around her, providing her with extra magical energy. She was less pale, but still unconscious. "Zatanna, you've grown into such a beautiful young woman, never forget I love you, and that I am proud of you." After conjuring a bouquet of white roses and leaving them by her bed, Zatara walked back to living room, and picked up the helmet of fate.

"Bruce, old friend, I'm glad our families are one now. Please, continue to care for her, and our grandchildren," He turned and embraced Dick briefly, "Take care, son".

**-0-0-0-0-**

Klarion felt the enchantments being placed on the necklace and hissed. He knew she would go back to Dick, but calling in Fate was an unexpected turn of events. He knew her husband was a detective of sorts, he probably noticed the necklace instantly.

"Teekl.. We may yet have to get our hands dirty.." He smirked and waved his hands. Dozens of mirrors floated before him, each showing a different scene. He had cast a spell on every mirror in Zatanna's house so he would be able to watch her. Even if protective enchantments were cast on the building, the looking glass spell would stay intact. She was on her bed, a golden glow surrounded her. Nabu had been there. He gritted his teeth as Dick walked into the room looking exhausted. He lay down next to her on the bed and covered his face with a pillow.

"She deserves so much more... He doesn't even appreciate her!" The only problem with his looking glass spell is that he could only see. He had no way of knowing what was being said, and he had no way of talking to Zatanna through the mirrors, he could only appear in them as she appeared to him. The mirror in the living room showed him here the necklace was. Contained in a glass jar. No doubt it was enchanted to prevent the necklace from calling to Zatanna.  
He laughed, petting Teekl again. "Time for plan B!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Dear reviewers and readers. I love you all.. and I thank you! I also apologise as I am very very drunk trying to post this update (which was not written while drunk...) so any typo and grammar error I fail to correct, please forgive me.. I love yoooooooooou!**

Lorna is my Loki sister AND SHE IS MINE! and I lurve her 3 ...PUB CRAWLS ARE EVIL!

* * *

A month had past. Zatanna was 11 weeks into the pregnancy and already had the beginning of a baby bump. Dick landed on the balcony, sneaking in as quietly as he could into the apartment.

"It's okay I'm awake," Zatanna's voice called out from the kitchen. He tried to run for the bathroom to shower and change before she saw him. He'd been distracted tonight while helping a pregnant woman escape two muggers and had managed to get himself stabbed in the arm. The whole time he had been imagining it was Zatanna being attacked.

"Oh Dick! What happened?" She rushed over to him, ushering him onto a seat while he stripped his uniform off to his waist. She moved her hands instinctively to heal him with magic. He grabbed her wrists and shook his head.

"Sorry babe, no magic remember," He stooped his head, kissing the small bump, "It will have to be the old fashioned way I'm afraid!" He smiled as she scoffed, going to fetch the first aid kit from the kitchen. It had been the first time he'd managed to get an injury since finding out Zatanna was pregnant. She was still struggling without the use of her magic. The babies just used too much of her energy as it was.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are lately?" He grinned as she came back with the first aid kit and a bowl of hot water. She laughed a little, setting everything on the table beside him.

"I'm not good at doing things like this without magic Dick, so it will probably hurt." She was right. A part of Dick wondered if getting stabbed actually hurt less. She scowled at him, as he moaned about her stitching abilities. "It really wouldn't take much energy to heal this up.." She ran her finger lightly over the stitching, it would hold. "I'll heal the scar after these two stop draining all mommy's energy," She laughed as Dick kissed her again, hugging her lightly, his face against the bump.

"Don't worry kids, your dad will teach you how to do things without magic, your mommy's useless!" He laughed as she hit him lightly. "I'm going to wash up, go get some sleep." He kissed her on the cheek and headed for the bathroom.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Zatanna pulled on an oversized jersey. It was one of Dick's old college shirts. She rooted out a loose pair of shorts and pulled them on. She was really going to have to buy some maternity clothes if she kept growing at this pace. She crawled into the bed, lying on her side and started drifting to sleep.

Dick dried himself off, wrapping the towel around his waist before examining his uniform and tossing it in the wash basket. He walked over to the mirror above the sink, wiping it due to the steam. His body suddenly froze as two glowing eyes stared at him from the mirror. He tried to move, to call out to Zatanna, but he was completely frozen. Everything around him appeared to go black and he felt like he was being physically moved. Suddenly he was staring at himself. A smirk spread across his own face, staring at him.

"I have to admit Dickie-Bird," Klarion's voice echoed all around Dick. He saw his hand ran through his wet hair, ruffling it backwards, "It didn't take you that long to drop your guard." It was Klarion. Dick reached forward, impacting with something hard.

"Get out of my body! ZATANNA! ZATANNA WAKE UP!"  
Klarion laughed, his laugh was Dick's laugh. "Did you say something Dickie-Bird?" He tapped the mirror and turned away, "I don't have time for this. My _wife_ is waiting for me." He left the room and Dick was plunged into darkness. Another square of light appeared next to him. He turned and looked. He could see Klarion in his body. He was in his bed room, smirking at the mirror. He gave a sly wave to the mirror before crawling into the bed beside Zatanna.  
Dick punched and screamed under his knuckles bled and his voice was hoarse. No matter how loud he screamed, Zatanna didn't hear him. He saw her turn, smiling with her goofy half asleep expression. He loved her like that, she was always hilarious when she was half asleep, saying the most random thing. He saw her lips move, but heard nothing. He turned away, he couldn't watch as she kissed his body, he knew it was Klarion, she didn't.

**-0-0-0-0-**

She stirred slightly when she felt Dick crawl into the bed beside her. She felt his wet hair dripping water onto her pillow as his lips softly kissed her neck. She turned and smiled at him as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Your hair is all wet," She smiled. She giggled, closing her eyes as Dick shook his head, showering her with droplets of water. She wound her fingers through his hair, pulling it back from his face. "You need a haircut man wonder," his hair was nearly to his chin apart from his bangs, which fell just below his eyes. He lay his head down on the pillow, pulling her closer and kissing her. She pushed him back lightly when he tried to deepen the kiss.

"I'm tired," she turned back on her side, "can we just sleep?"

"Of course," He kissed her neck again, pulling her close, holding her close to him as she fell asleep. He couldn't help but smirk. She couldn't tell that he, Klarion, was possessing Dick. Her magic was weak due to the pregnancy, once he avoided any other magic users, he could stay like this with her until the babies were born. After that, he would have to be creative.

Zatanna woke up with a start. Dick was still spooning her, normally he rolls away during the night, pulling the blankets with him and taking up most of the bed. He mumbled something as he started waking up, Zatanna giggling, trying to pull away.

"Dick, you're kind of poking me in the back here," She giggled again as he started kissing her neck, his hands wandering around her body. She tried to push him away again.

"Can you blame me? Waking up next to you," He pulled her close, his hand creeping up her top. She turned her head, kissing him passionately. Things heated up quickly between the two. Klarion's mind was racing, he was so close to finally having what he wanted, to finally having Zatanna. She pulled back, breathing heavily.

"Dick we shouldn't," She whispered, giggling as he kissed her neck up again, "Think about the babies." She laughed, pushing him up off her. He smiled, it was his cocky smile, the one that melted her heart.

"I'll be gentle," She gave up pushing him away and chuckled.

"Oh fine, it's not like I can get any more pregnant than I already am!" She giggled again as he ducked his head under the blankets and pushed her shirt up over her head.

"Get away from her!" Dick hammered on the glass again. He couldn't take this anymore, he had to find a way to get out, he had to stop Klarion, he had to save his wife. He hit the glass once more, sinking to his knees when he saw his possessed body duck under the blanket. Zatanna's head tilted back, he could hear her familiar giggles, but it was only in his mind. He closed his eyes. He couldn't watch any more.

Klarion's voice boomed around Dick's prison, making him look up to find he was in the bathroom in his apartment.

"I take it by now you've realised that once I'm in view of a mirror, you can see what is happening," Dick swore he could see Klarion's smile through his own.

"I swear, the more you touch her, the more you're going to suffer!" All he could do was glare, his fists were too sore to try punch his way out of his imprisonment. Klarion tapped the mirror and laughed.

"Can't hear you Dickie-bird. The only reason you can hear me is because I want you too," He smirked, slicking his hair back. "I hope Zatanna's up for round two!" All he could do was stare as he watched Klarion through the bedroom mirror, wrapping his arms around Zatanna as she was getting dressed. Something caught her eye, and she turned to look at the mirror, seconds too late as Klarion threw a shirt over it. She would see him as the reflection, not a regular reflection!

**-0-0-0-0-**

"Okay, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Zatanna mused, passing Dick a plate full of food. The last three night's he had cancelled going out on patrol, he hadn't trained and now he was eating less than usual.

"I don't know what you mean Zatanna, I just want to spend more time with my beautiful wife," He smiled, but she frowned, walking back into the kitchen. She rubbed her shoulder and neck. There were red marks all over them, some were love bites, some just regular bites. Dick had been particularly _needy_ lately, and despite all promises of being gentle, he hadn't been.  
"I'm going to make some popcorn!" She called through to the living room, hearing a response in the form of a grunt. She put a bag of popcorn into the microwave and waited until it started popping before pulling her communicator from her pocket and put it in her ear.  
"Zatanna to Robin," She spoke as quietly as she could, waiting for the line to connect.  
"Robin here, what's up Tanna?" Tim's voice was cheerful down the line. He reminded her of another thing that had been odd for the past few days. Dick had only been calling her Zatanna. There was a distinct lack of "Zee" and "Babe".  
"Dick's been acting strange… I can't place it but.." She rubbed her neck again. One of the bite marks was particularly sore, he had broken through the skin. "I think I need help…"  
"I'm on my way." The communicator buzzes as the line closed. She put the communicator back into her pocket and turned to get the popcorn.

Dick glared as there was a light knock on the balcony door. Zatanna ran over and opened it, hugging Tim.

"Don't take off your mask Robin," She whispered quickly and quietly. She couldn't explain her suspicions, but she wanted to test Dick. "Dick, look who's here!" She turned and smiled, ushering Tim into the apartment and closing the balcony doors.

"A bit late for visitors don't you think?" Dick was on his feet, his eyes were still narrowed slightly.

"Not really," Tim laughed, squatting down in front of Zatanna, level with her bump. "Hello in there little ones! Uncle Robin here, your Dad is being silly and bailing on work." He laughed with Zatanna, not seeing the glares from Dick. Zatanna caught a glimpse and tapped Tim on the shoulder.  
"Anyway Dick, you're kind of needed out there with us right now," Tim stood between them, crossing his arms.

Klarion was so close to losing it. Yet again, another bird boy was standing between him and Zatanna. He couldn't leave the apartment, because his hold on the possession would fail, and he was running out of patience making excuses.

"I just want to spend some time with Zatanna," He walked around the sofa, hoping to get around Robin. "She's pregnant, and I can't stand the thought of leaving her alone all the time." He nearly sent a fireball hurtling as the balcony doors burst open, the Batman himself sweeping through the door.

"What's going on Zatanna? Did you call them here?" He stared at her, she looked uncertain as she rubbed her neck again. Batman walked right up to him, but Klarion kept his focus on Zatanna.

"I'm sorry Dick. You've just been acting a little different.. I was worried," She mumbled as Robin stepped protectively in front of her. Batman grabbed his arm, and Klarion snapped. He jumped back, kicking Batman in the gut and hurtling him back into the sofa. Zatanna shrieked at the suddenness, Robin pulling her into a corner out of harm's way.

"Get out of my home!" He yelled at Batman and Robin, fighting all urges to use his magic.

"We're trying to help you Dick," Batman growled, getting to his feet. "Tell me, what's my name?"

"Batman," Klarion scowled. He knew he was asking him what his real name was. He took a step back, diving down the hall and into the kitchen. Batman and Robin were close behind him, narrowly dodging the kitchen knives thrown at the door way.

"I don't know who you are, but you better tell me what you've done with Dick!" Robin yelled from outside the door. Klarion was trapped, his only way out of this was using his magic. He turned and laughed, phasing through the kitchen wall into the living room. He heard Zatanna yell from behind him and turned, grabbing her wrists before she was able to hit him with the bat in her hands. Robin and Batman appeared around the corner again, Robin catching Dick's reflection in the mirror about the fireplace. He nudged Batman who looked too, shocked to see Dick's reflection was actually banging on the other side of the mirror.

"Klarion!" Batman yelled suddenly, "let go of her and release Dick!" He pointed at the mirror for Zatanna to see. A few times in the past few days she thought she had seen something in the corner of her eye moving, but Dick, or rather, Klarion, had told her it was just her imagination.  
"You…" Zatanna's voice was barely a whisper. "Tel Kci-" Before she had even said the second word of her spell, a gag appeared in her mouth.

"Tsk Tsk Zatanna, we all know what will happen if you use your magic," He was behind her, still holding her wrists. She was staring at Dick, the real Dick, in the mirror and shivered as Klarion ran his tongue slowly down her neck. She winced as he bit softly into her neck, causing the real Dick to smash his fist against the mirror in anger. He was glancing between Robin and Batman. "You're not going to attack a pregnant woman are you?" He moved Zatanna, using her as a meat shield. He put her wrists together, a rope appearing around them, and let go of her hands. Klarion pulled her close, one hand softly caressing her bump and smirked at the dynamic duo.

"Also I'm sure this body is used to good fight," He laughed again, rolling his shoulders, "but you should probably remember that it is his, not mine."

* * *

**I will update again tomorrow night, and possibly maybe Friday night! I'm at a convention this weekend (actually cosplaying Zatanna I might post a pic for you guys if you want X3 ) so I won't be writing for a while.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it took so long for me to update. I had a convention to attend at the weekend and just before the weekend I had some dental surgery done and haven't been right since X_x Had to have a wisdom tooth removed and now I have an infection from that..and with the antibiotics making me even more ill.. ack.. well updates might take a while.. I won't lie, my brain is fried right now but thank you all so much for the reviews and encouragement :)  
I've never been very confident in my writing so I really appreciate all the lovely reviews. It keeps me writing!**

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Batman stood straight out of his fighting stance and dropped the batarang that was in his hand. Robin begrudgingly did the same. Zatanna knew better than Klarion. She knew this was just an act. With as much force as she could, she rammed her head backwards into his face, breaking Dick's nose. He let go in shock and Zatanna stumbled forward, batarangs flying either side of her. Klarion deflected the attack, sending the weapons flying back across the room. Robin caught Zatanna just as she cried out in pain. Batman leapt at Klarion, battling through his magical attacks as Robin carried Zatanna into the kitchen. He ripped her gag off, cut the rope from her wrists and lifted her top up to where she was bleeding, quickly assessing her wound. One of the batarangs had caught her left side as she tried get away. Blood was starting to pump out heavily, Zatanna gritting her teeth against the pain.

"Hold on Tanny, don't worry," Tim pressed a towel against the wound, pushing as much pressure on it as he dared. Zatanna felt her legs go weak and Tim helped her stay upright, pulling the towel back to look again. His eyes shot wide as he watched the wound healing. The blood clotted rapidly, the internal tissue healing itself, and finally her cut skin re-joined itself. If it wasn't for the blood stains on her clothes and skin, you would think she had never been hurt.

"That… That wasn't me," Zatanna whispered, a protective hand over her bump. "It was them."

"Magic babies. Awesome!" Tim turned quickly at a loud crash from the living room, "Stay here, when you hear me yell, run for the front door and get out of here!" He sprang out of the room, as Zatanna slid down the wall, covering her bump protectively. It sounded like her living room was pretty much trashed right now.

Batman wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. With Dick's physical strength and agility with Klarion's magic in such a confined fighting space, he was struggling. Klarion had managed to prevent him from drawing the fight outside.

"Do you see what you've done? I was happily living here, causing no trouble!" Klarion yelled, "Yet you BATS just had to interfere again didn't you?" He hit Robin in the chest with a fireball as he sprang into the room, launching him backwards into the wall. Batman threw smoke pellets around the room, cloaking his movement.

"It's not your life to live!" Batman yelled from somewhere in the smoke. He launched himself towards Klarion, only to be caught by the strength of Dick's body, tackling him to the ground, magic sweeping the smoke out of the room. Klarion punched him in the face repeatedly until a loud smash distracted him. He looked up, giving Batman the chance to fling him backwards and spring to his feet.

Zatanna was standing in front of Robin, a broken glass jar at her feet and a necklace in her hands. She held it forward and smirked.  
"Klarion," Klarion's eye widened, he knew what she was going to do. "Bleak." He roared in anger as his soul got ripped from Dick's body, which crashed to the ground, Klarion's true body materialising beside it. Zatanna moved before Batman could, snatching a batarang that had hit a sofa and flinging Klarion against a wall, sharp edge of the batarang to his throat.

"GIVE ME BACK MY HUSBAND!" She pushed the blade against his neck, drawing a little blood. Batman stood behind her, posed and ready to attack. Klarion stared at her, tears in his eyes.

"He doesn't deserve you," The words came out little more than a hiss, the anger in her eyes flaring. "He has never deserved you Zatanna!"

"No Klarion, YOU don't deserve me!" Her free hand shot to his head, "Now give him back or I swear you won't even know what your own name is by the time I'm finished in here!"

"Yeah right," He laughed, the cruel glint in his eyes returned, "Like you'd do anything to hurt your precious babies." Zatanna removed her hand from his head, fishing the necklace from her pocket and forced it into his mouth, covering it with her hand.

"Shut up! Just shut up and take your stupid necklace! Without Dick, I don't care what happens to me or the babies!" She spoke through gritted teeth, "I will fry your brain Klarion Bleak, I mean it!" He stared into her eyes. He couldn't deny that seeing her this angry and dominant turned him on. He raised his hands cautiously, and snapped his fingers.

Dick shot upright, inhaling deeply, and stumbled to his feet. His body ached from the fight with Batman.  
"Zee, don't," his voice was hoarse from yelling from his mirror prison. He walked over and pulled her back from Klarion. "He doesn't deserve to forget either. He should remember what you're willing to do to him." He glared at Klarion, who smirked and spat the necklace out of his mouth into his hand.

"Dickie-bird, how considerate of you," Klarion was about to laugh, but Bruce's fist impacted with his face, and then the wall, as Klarion phased through it. "Chaos looks good on you Zatanna," His voice echoed around the room before he disappeared through a portal on the other side of the wall.

"Pack up, you're both coming home," Bruce walked over and helped Tim to his feet. Dick took hold of Zatanna's wrist lightly, prying the batarang from her hand. She was standing still with her fists clenched, her head bowed with angry tears rolling down her face.

"Zee..c'mon let's get some stuff together, we should get out of here," He jumped back as she turned and stormed past him to the bedroom. She was flinging clothes onto the bed when he walked in so he pulled out a bag and carefully folded the clothes before he put them in. He could see the marks on her shoulder and neck, and the blood stained patch on her clothes.

"I saw, I could see everything Zee," He spoke gently, she was not in a good place right now. "You didn't know it was him in there..."

"I SHOULD HAVE!" She screamed, flinging a pair of trainers at him, "I should have known it wasn't you. I should have known straight away..."

"Guy's, can this wait until later? We need to go," Tim was hanging against the door way, clutching his chest. The fireball had burned him badly.  
"Alfred is in a car out front. Leave now, who knows if or when Klarion will come back." Bruce grabbed Tim, ushering him out the balcony door and into the batwing. Dick shoved the last of the clothes into a bag, grabbing one of his prepared packs with his Nightwing gear. He took Zatanna's hand and dragged her out the door, she was still distraught but they had to leave.

**-0-0-0-0-**

"That is quite astounding Miss Zatanna," Alfred mused as he checked the area she had been wounded. "You are certain you didn't heal yourself?" He held a stethoscope to her bump, searching for the babies' heart beats.

"I felt them Alfred," She saw a smile spread across his face.

"All is well," He stood up, and turned back to look at Bruce, Tim and Dick and sighed, "For some anyway.."  
They were all holding ice packs against their faces, with various bruises already showing. Each of them were covered with many bandages and band-aids. It seemed like Zatanna was the only one to make it out of the apartment in one piece.

"I'm..," She started, all heads in the room turning towards her, "I should have just... if I hadn't helped him a month ago, none of this would of happened." Dick walked over to his wife and sat beside her, putting an arm around her.

"I hate to say it, but if you hadn't helped him, we may never of found out the truth," He kissed her on the forehead. "Also, I can't believe you broke my nose..." he pouted, adjusting the ice pack slightly. She looked at Bruce and Tim, both also holding ice packs to their noses.

"Am I the only one who _didn't _break my nose?" The three of them glanced at each other and couldn't help but laugh. Zatanna rolled her eyes and chuckled, Dick's arm giving her a little reassuring squeeze. Three broken noses could only be a laughing matter in this family.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Sometime in the early hours of the morning, after everyone was stitched up and had eaten, Alfred informed them that Dick's old bedroom had been prepared for them. Once in the bedroom, Dick couldn't help but move Zatanna's hair from her neck and stare at the bite marks and numerous purple and red bruises on her neck. He had spent 3 days watching Klarion use his body to be with Zatanna.

"Can't the babies heal those too?" She pushed his hand away, pulling her hair over her neck.

"I guess not. Maybe they didn't think they had to heal them, because you weren't…aren't a threat to them..." She lay down on the bed and Dick lay down next to her. A part of him was scared to roll over and hold her. She had stopped him from kissing her twice today.

"He really did a number on your head this time didn't he..." Dick sighed, and almost instantly regretted saying the words. He waited for the backlash, but only saw her move her hand to her neck again. He had seen a few small yellow fingertip shaped bruises on her back when Alfred was examining her healed cut. He got out of the bed, walking around beside her and sat her up. She was wearing a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants. She never wore sweatpants to bed.

"Stand up Zee. I need to…see," A part of him didn't want to see the damage his own hands had caused his wife. "If I don't know what he's done, I can't help you. Do you understand? I need to know..."

"Tell me something no one else knows about me but you." Her hands had recoiled slightly from his touch. "I… He took your body once Dick… "  
Dick crouched down, balancing on his toes and took her hands in his, looking up into her eyes and smiled.

"You're a spellaholic. It took you 3 years to cook a full dinner, without magic, and without burning anything, and that was with Alfred teaching you." Dick grinned at the memory, let go of her hands and tapped her toes with his fingers, "You would go barefoot forever if you could, because you hate not being able to wiggle your toes in shoes." She giggled as she found herself wiggling her toes as he said it.  
"You hated wearing dresses, until Alfred bought you some when we were teenagers," Dick's face got more serious and he held one of her hands again, pulling her to her feet.  
"White Roses remind you of your dad and make you cry, and whenever you were scared or sad, he used to sing to you." He gently stroked her cheek, knowing the next part would be hard to hear, "And every night, he used to kiss you on your forehead and say 'My little Zanny, I love you most'"  
Zatanna wrapped her arms around Dick and sobbed a little. She couldn't help but ask him, she had to be sure. She gently pushed him a step back, lifted her shirt over her head and pulled off her sweatpants.

"Zee..." He stared down at his wife's body in horror. The bite makes and bruises trailed from her neck down to her breasts, some of the bite marks even had small scabs where his teeth had broken her skin. Her thighs, hips and back were covered in small fingertip like bruises. He stared at the small scratch marks on her lower back and couldn't take any more. He had seen her more beaten up than this in their line of work, but all this damage was done by his own hands, the teeth marks by his teeth. He helped her dress again and sat down on the bed. He couldn't look at her. "And... and you thought it was me who did _that_ to you?"

"No, never," She grabbed his head , turning it so he was looking into her eyes, "It was after this happened that I called Tim.." She gently wiped away the tears which threatened to flow down his cheeks. "I didn't know it was Klarion... but I figured something was wrong. I know you wouldn't hurt me Dick." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. Zatanna couldn't help but feel that Klarion really was getting what he wanted. Their marriage was really being put to the test.

They lay down and Dick wrapped his arms around her legs, resting his head beside her bump.  
"You know kids, I wouldn't mind if you'd heal your mum up now..." Zatanna rested one hand on her bump, running her other hand through his hair.

"Only about 25 weeks and I can heal myself." She smiled when he snuggled in closer to her, kissing the bump again. She had known the first instant the biting had turned rough that it couldn't have been Dick. He would never hurt her like that, he would never be _that_ rough. She frowned, glad that he couldn't see her face. While she knew it wasn't Dick, a part of her had liked it, enjoy it even. She could feel the taint of chaos left from Klarion's touch in every single bite, knowing the real reason her babies couldn't heal her. When she was a teenager, it had taken nearly every drop of magic she had to heal the damage inflicted by chaos. She was much stronger now, but while she was pregnant she couldn't risk healing herself.

_'Chaos looks good on you Zatanna,' _what had Klarion meant by that. She twirled Dick's hair around her fingers and sighed. The sun was creeping through the curtains, and Dick's breathing had changed. He was fast asleep holding her. Zatanna closed her eyes, letting the exhaustion sweep over her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the delay updating again. I've not had a good few weeks. Between the pain in my gum and infection etc...hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things pretty soon ^^; ...mind you lego batman 2 being out doesn't help...grr not having the pre order DLC for Nightwing and Zatanna!**

* * *

Nightwing couldn't help but pace impatiently while waiting on Gotham PD to arrive at the scene. Zatanna had been in pain all day and Alfred had taken her to hospital. Dick wanted to go but the bat-signal was spotted over Gotham, and Bruce was out of town.

"Calm down Nightwing," Robin was standing over the tied up crooks. "Everything will be fine!" Dick knew he was right, it was normal for labour to come a few weeks early when there were multiple babies involved. The last few months had been crazy. Bruce insisted they move into Wayne Manor full time and had arranged a room to be redecorated for the twins. Zatanna had grown weaker and weaker throughout the pregnancy, and her bump had gotten so large she sometimes needed help standing up or moving around. Alfred had been more than happy to help her with whatever she needed and insisted she did nothing but relax. Everyone had been over the moon when a scan revealed the twins were boys.  
Dick couldn't help but worry, especially noticing that the scars from the bite marks never fully healed and that Zatanna was getting increasingly weaker. She was pale and drawn most of the time, barely able to eat enough to keep her and the babies healthy, and now she was having minor contractions all the time.

"They're here, fill them in on what happened, I'm going to make a quick call," Dick leapt up the building and pulled out a phone when he reached the roof top. He dialled Bruce's cell.  
"I'm on my way back. Alfred called. I'll be at the hospital in two hours." Dick hadn't even managed to say anything before the call ended. He dialled Alfred next. "Alfred, what's happening?"

"Master Richard, I do believe this time is no false alarm. I would have called but I believe you were working correct?" Panic started filling his mind. Zatanna was actually in labour this time! He was going to be a father.  
"ROBIN WE'VE GOTTA MOVE NOW!" He yelled down into the alley.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Zatanna screamed. All she wanted to do was punch the nurse who kept telling her it would be okay, just to breathe. She had gone into labour at week 35, early for a regular pregnancy, but rather normal with twins. She had had limbs broken, been electrocuted been tortured, fought through all sorts of magical attacks, but none of them compared to labour pains.

"We can see his head, just one more big push, come on now!"

"ZEE!" Dick burst through the door as Zatanna screamed out again, trying to push, and found himself running across the room over, grabbing her hand, and instantly regretting it due to her death grip. She was pale with large dark circles under her eyes, beads of sweat were running down her face. The last few weeks had been a struggle with the pregnancy. She had been very weak and found it difficult to move around.  
She screamed out again and felt a mild relief. The nurses bundled something away, a doctor joining them. Zatanna could see people's mouths moving, but all she could hear was a mild ringing in her ears. She was all too aware that there was no baby crying. Dick, while holding her hand tightly, was staring dismayed at the nurses and doctor to the side. She didn't have time to question anything as the other baby started coming. Again she screamed and pushed, tears streaming down her face. She still couldn't hear cries from the first baby.

"Why is he not crying?!" She managed to scream out as the doctor said she was nearly done. Relief washed over her body and she collapsed against the bed. The second baby was delivered and rushed away, the room was still silent except for the doctors.

"No... no... Dick what's wrong, what's happening to our boys?" Zatanna was practically screaming, trying to pull herself into a sitting position. Dick put his hand on her shoulder, holding her down against the bed. She could see the emotion building on Dick's face and saw a doctor shake his head.

"No... this can't..." She clenched her fists fighting back tears. She didn't care how weak she was, she wasn't going to let her babies die. She stopped fighting against Dick and took his hand in hers. "I love you…" She closed her eyes and focused.

"nepo ruoy sgnul dna htaerb seibab!" Dick's eyes shot down to her in shock as two little coughs sounded from across the room, followed by sharp wailing cries. She opened her eyes and smiled weakly. Dick was tearing his eyes between staring at the babies and Zatanna.

"Two healthy baby boys," Two nurses with small bundles in their arms walked towards Zatanna and Dick, their smiles dropping from their faces as Zatanna's heart monitor started beeping rapidly. They turned as the doctor's rushed over, moving Dick away from Zatanna. Someone hit a cardiac arrest emergency button, a nurse told him they were taking the babies to be cleaned up, and everything seemed to slow down. Zatanna's smile was still on her face when her heart monitor flat lined. Nurses rushed into the room with a crash cart and Bruce and Tim's faces appeared at the door. Dick was being gently ushered towards the door, Bruce walking towards him to help the nurse. He couldn't take his eyes from his wife lying motionless in the bed.

"Clear!" The heart monitor still flat lined.

"Dick, you don't want to see this, come on," Bruce was pulling him back by the arm.  
"Clear!" Still flat lining.

Everything suddenly turned a shade of grey. The doctors and nurses froze, even Bruce froze. A deathly silence filled the room.

"She's going to die," Klarion was sitting on the window sill, his head in his hands. "and it's your fault." Dick launched himself across the room in blind rage.

"You! This is your fault! All the stuff you put her through, all the stress and pain she endured because of you!" He lashed out to punch Klarion but his body froze. Klarion's head shot up, his red demonic eyes glaring into Dick's blue ones.

"This is your fault Dickie-Bird! You're the one that created those magic draining brats inside of her not me!" He barely moved, narrowing his eyes slightly, but Dick felt himself fly across the room. "But I can save her."  
Dick could only stare at the witch boy in shock. He didn't know what he was talking about, but he knew, deep down, that Klarion was right. Dick was the one who got Zatanna pregnant, and the pregnancy is what put her where she was. "If you can save her, do it already!"

"Tsk, it isn't that simple," Klarion jumped off the window sill, walking carefully around one of the doctors who was frozen in time. "I can recant her last spell, give her back the last of her energy she surrendered to save your off spring."

"Recanting the spell… would kill the twins," Dick stared at his wife as Klarion hummed.

"That is the case, not so uneducated in the mystic arts I see," Klarion was staring at Zatanna. "And I do believe she would never forgive you for making that choice…" Dick gritted his teeth as Klarion ran a finger delicately down Zatanna's cheek. He knew the witch boy was capable of saving her and then also saving his children, but Dick knew Klarion would never do both. And he was right, Zatanna would never forgive him if he picked her over the twins.

"Why… why are you doing this? What do you gain from torturing my family so much?" Dick was struggling to fight back the tears. He was afraid to even go stand by his wife fearing the choice he would make.

"There is another way. A way they can all live," A sly smirk spread across Klarion's face. He was still standing by Zatanna. "I can revive her, with a portion of _my_ magic, chaos magic. She is already slightly infected, but she will have to come with me," he smirked eyeing the scars on her neck. "Or I can recant her spell and infect the children with chaos and take them, but I do believe you will have a very angry wife if that were to happen." Klarion couldn't hide his smirk. He was going to get his way, mainly because he knew Dick wouldn't understand fully what he was saying. He loved tricking people.

"Do it. Just save her," Dick was startled when he was suddenly back across the room, Bruce's arm still pulling him. A nurse shrieked when she saw Klarion on the window sill, Teekl in his lap. Bruce let go of Dick's arm, positioning himself, ready for attack, but Dick stopped him.

"Now now everyone, calm down while I do your job," With a simple flick of his hand, the doctors and nurses were pushed away from Zatanna. Klarion floated over to her, grinning manically. "Let's get you back to my world," He ran a finger down her cheek then places his hand over her heart. Black strands of energy slowly moved from his fingers down through her chest.

"Dick we have to stop him," Bruce pushed against Dick, but was met with resistance.

"It's the only way she will live... you know as much as I do," Dick couldn't look Bruce in the eye, but managed to push him out the door just before a bone-chilling scream sounded from behind him. Zatanna was levitating about a foot in the air, strands of magic still flowing into her body from Klarion. Her fists were clenching and unclenching and her eyes were open. She fell into Klarion's arms, her scream stopping abruptly. Dick could see her chest rising and falling slowly. She was breathing. She was alive.

"Zatanna?" He called out, ready to run over, but Klarion smirked and shook his head.

"She's mine now Dickie-Bird," He laughed as a portal opened behind him, engulfing him, Zatanna and Teekl before disappearing in a flash of red light.

"What have you done Dick?" Bruce pulled Dick outside as Tim helped the nurses and doctors. He pushed Dick up against a wall, ignoring the clear misery on his face. "We could have saved her! We could have called in Doctor Fate!" Realisation dawned on Dick's face. He had made a serious mistake.

"He... was going to take the kids…" his mumbles were barely audible, "The kids…where are they?"

**-0-0-0-0-**

Mild relief washed over Dick as a nurse pointed to two small babies all bundled in blue blankets cocooned in a bassinet before wheeling them towards the door of the nursery. Bruce was talking to a nurse, arranging their discharge today, not wanting to risk leaving them in the hospital too long.

"Did you and your wife have time to think of names?" The nurse asked cautiously, knowing Zatanna was not around. Dick nodded and looked down at the babies. Tim bounced over beside him and smiled at Dick as the nurse passed one baby to him.

"This here is the eldest," She passed the other baby to Tim, "and the youngest brother"  
Dick looked down at the small bundle in his arms and couldn't help but feel a little choked up at the big blue eyes staring back at him.

"Hello Thomas Grayson," He said softly, smiling as Thomas yawned. Tim smiled, rocking the baby in his arms lightly, "Be gentle with Zeth."

"Hey Zeth, I'm your uncle Tim," Tim laughed lightly as Zeth reached up with his tiny hand. The nurses showed Tim and Dick the special bottles that the babies would need to drink from for the first few weeks, and showed them how to feed them. The brothers were sitting side by side feeding the babies when Bruce and Alfred approached. Despite the difficulties of the day and the sad loss of Zatanna, Bruce found himself smiling.

"So, I finally get to meet my grandchildren?" He sat beside Dick who smiled. Zatanna and Dick had kept their name choices top secret.

"Tim has Zeth Grayson, the younger of the twins," He handed Thomas over to Bruce, "And that is Thomas Grayson." Dick could swear that in the entire time he had known Bruce Wayne, he had never shown that much genuine visible emotion until now.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm making Klarion's home the dimension known as Witch World, his original origins rather than the Limbo Town origin. Limbo town Klarion wasn't as psycopathic as Witch World Klarion! Also I'm so so so so so sorry for the delay.. I just couldn't write lately ^^; I've been a tad bit down, between being ill and waiting for hospital appointments (which finally arrived) and asthma attacks! I was also at another con :) had so much fun! So here goes chapter 8!**

Klarion was perched on the edge of an over-large throne like chair, carved from black wood with red velvet seats. He was watching Zatanna through a looking glass as she slept. He had left her asleep on an enormous black wood four poster bed with red silk sheets. Everything in the room appeared to be either black or red, everything having an ominous, twisted, evil feeling. He had brought Zatanna to his home, to the dimension known as Witch World. Here he was at his strongest, he has his full strength and no weaknesses. She started to stir and Klarion smirked. She would be feeling the effects of his magic soon, it had been just a little over a week since he took her from the hospital now.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Zatanna felt a burning sensation from her chest and shot awake, breathing heavily as if she had just come up for air. It took her a moment to realise she didn't know where she was. The burning in her chest seemed to be slowly spreading around her body. Every breath she took caused the burning pain to sear through her again. This was not good. She glanced around at the room. The last thing she remembered was being in the hospital. She quickly grabbed her stomach, shocked to see her swollen belly was no longer there.

_'I gave birth…where ... they weren't breathing.. .' _She suddenly remembered conjuring the last of her magic, feeling the world slip from around her as she sent the only thing keeping her alive to her children. She remembered the sensation of floating in nothingness. It was peaceful, she heard the soft cries of her babies, and saw Dick's eyes, and suddenly there was nothing but a calming silence. It was only a few moments before the burning began. It felt like every fibre of her body was on fire, like a great black fire was engulfing her. She had never felt anything like this before. She was able to hear startled voices, some familiar, most not, and laughter, evil, maniacal laughter, and her own voice screaming.  
_'Zatanna?' _Dick's voice, then nothingness again, until now.

She moved carefully, fighting the burning pain spreading through her body. It wasn't as painful as the black fire she felt before. She saw her reflection in a mirror on the opposite wall. She was pale and drawn. Her hair was in a long braid which hung over her shoulder. The oddest thing was the red silk dress she was wearing. It had loose elbow length sleeves, a deep revealing v-neck which showed a little too much cleavage for her liking. The body of the dress was rather figure hugging to her hips, where it then fell loosely to her knee's. She placed a hand tenderly on her stomach. There should have been some bump, something. There was no way she could have lost all the baby weight instantly. She glanced around the room. The décor was terrifying. Everything was made from a crude black wood with grotesque carvings as details. Anything that wasn't black wood seemed to be red silk or velvet. It looked expensive, and very very dark. Wherever she was, it was time to get out of here.

"Egnahc otni ym mrofinu" Zatanna's eyes widened as nothing happened. She could feel her magic inside her. There was more of it than she had sensed in the past few months. She knew that spell backwards, literally, and yet nothing happened.

"Egnahc otni ym mrofinu!" She yelled, but still there was no reaction. Her magic didn't even react.

"Etativel riahc" She focused on the chair near the door, another basic spell and yet no reaction. Frustrated, she flung her hand before her pointing to the chair to focus more directly, only shock spread across her face as a black eldritch bolt shot from her finger, shattering the chair. She had never been able to fire eldritch bolts before, except when she had worn the helmet of fate. Klarion and Nabu were the only magic users she had ever seen harness this form of magic, yet neither of them fired black magic. Klarion's was red and Nabu's was golden.

"Hmm, I quite liked that chair," Klarion's voice sent a chill down her spine. She turned around quickly, causing the burning sensation to ripple through her body again. She nearly collapsed only Klarion caught her wrists. "I'd be a little more cautious if I was you. Your body will take a while to...adapt to the changes I made." His smile was terrifying and shook Zatanna to the core. What did he mean by changes to her body? He picked her up with easy and put her back on the bed. He seemed different. Zatanna found herself struggling to breathe through the burning in her chest and fell back, light headed, onto the pillows.

"What do you mean changes?" She closed her eyes and tried relax her breathing. It was bad enough that she was terrified of the power she could feel coming from Klarion. She had never felt that much power from him before.

"For starters," He waved a hand and the shattered chair reassembled itself, more grotesque than before. "I got rid of that hideous stomach you had. Oh and you don't have to worry about having stretch marks at least." He chuckled a little, and sat in the chair. "You've already noticed that _your _magic is not exactly working right now. I fear my dear that that is my fault." He chuckled, admiring his sharp black nails.

"How… how dare you Klarion! What have you done," She winced in pain as she tried to sit up again.

"How dare I?" The rage was instantaneous. The air around Klarion was practically rippling with energy, "How dare I _save_ you? How dare I keep you alive? You and your foolish self-sacrificial acts!" Zatanna shrieked as she felt the sudden flood of energy rush her, swarming around her and causing the burning in her chest to intensify. "You're here because your precious husband _gave_ you to _me_! He couldn't bear to see you lifeless. Naturally in his emotional state he took the first thing offered to him to save you." He smirked, sweeping in and picking Zatanna up as if she was but a doll and placed her on chair in front of the mirror. That's when she noticed for the first time that her scars were gone. Her skin was paler than usual, more porcelain like in appearance.

"My father… he could have saved me too..."

"Bingo, but bird-brain didn't know that, and if he did, well," He laughed, standing behind Zatanna. One of his hands snaked around to the front of her neck, his grip tightening slightly. "I may have influenced his decision just a little." She glared at Klarion in the mirror. "But don't you worry, those little...creatures, you popped out are just fine. I didn't go near them if that is what you're afraid of."

"Who said I was afraid," She grabbed his hands and focused. She wasn't sure how the magic she had now worked. She pulled his hand from her throat and spun up off the chair, twisting his arm. She wasn't just a one trick pony, Dick had thought her how to defend herself. Klarion yelled out in anger at the sudden assault, but Zatanna's efforts were cut short. In a blaze of red heat, she was thrown against the wall by Klarion. She stared at him, horror struck. She had never seen him look like this. His skin was tinted blue, his face distorted, demonic red eyes glaring at her and mouth wide screaming in anger, showing pointed teeth.

"You will obey me! You will fear me!" Zatanna felt something burning her neck and chest. Small black marks were blazing on her skin in all the places she had been scarred by Klarion. She felt herself being pulled to her feet, the black marks spreading to join each other, leaving a trail of black from her neck to her breasts. She narrowed her eyes, anger flooding through her. She yelled at Klarion, and a blast of power shot out of her towards him. He easily dodged and smirked. The burning in her chest lessened as the black marks blazed, the pain from them lessening. She flung her hands before her. Two large eldritch bolts shot from her at Klarion, who countered with his own red version. He formed a large whip from his magic, flicking it at Zatanna. She dodged, a wicked smirk spreading across her face as she fired smaller bolts at the painting on the wall above him, causing it to crash down on him. The smirk dropped from her face when she heard Klarion's laughter.

"Chaos really is becoming of you. Can't you feel it? I know you can," He pushed the destroyed painting aside. "I infected you with it a long time ago." As he pointed to the black marks on her, they flared red for a moment, the colour of his magic. "And now you developed a taste for it. Don't deny it I saw your smirk." She looked in the mirror, touching the black marks. The pain from them was now just a faint tingle, the burning in her chest just a mild irritation. Klarion was right, using that magic to attack him had felt good, she did smirk, but that was because she wanted to escape surely?

"No, I will never turn to Chaos! I-" Her knee's buckled as the burning in her chest suddenly flared again, the black marks blazing brighter, almost feeling as if it searing itself into her skin. She cried out in pain, doubled over on her hands and knees. She could see Klarion's shoe's getting closer to her in her peripheral vision. He knelt down in front of her, pulling her into a sitting position by her shoulders. His wicked pointed tooth grin and red eyes shook her to her core. She tried to turn her head, to break his gaze, but the black marks yet again blazed red, and she found herself unable to turn away from Klarion's eyes.

"You will soon learn, my little pet, that you cannot deny me," He grabbed either side of her face, kissing her harshly. The red marks on her skin were burning hot as she resisted his kiss. Tears started streaming down her face and her body trembled from the pain. Klarion eventually broke away, anger practically pouring off him in waves. He flung her to the ground and stormed out the room. Slowly, the marks turned black again, the pain subsiding to a bearable amount. The moment Zatanna screamed out in a mixture of pain and anger, causing a wave of magic to shred everything close to her, the pain from her chest stopped.

"So… Chest pains from resisting his magic…" She sighed and ran a finger along one of the black marks. "And burning from resisting his will. Oh Dick… please save me."

**-0-0-0-0-**

"Don't worry boys," Dick spoke softly, looking at the two sleeping babies, "I'll bring your mother home... I'll fix this," He quietly left the room. He sighed and headed in the direction of the cave. Alfred would look after the boys tonight while he went over some research with Batman. Giovanni was so furious at Dick's decision that had refused to work directly with him in fear that Giovanni would wrestle control from him and attack Dick, therefore all information he was discovering was being sent directly to the Batcave. It had been over a week since Klarion had taken Zatanna and the only information they had been able to discover was that she was not in this dimension. It was likely that Klarion had taken her to his home world, but it was taking longer than expected to be able to locate Witch World and find safe passage for a rescue team. Dick stared over Tim's shoulder at the book be was reading.

"Wait... everyone in Witch World has knowledge of black magic?" He caused Tim to jump and snap the book shut on reflex.

"To different extents," Bruce pulled up a file with all information he was able to obtain about Witch World. While everyone had knowledge and experience with black magic there, there were very few as powerful as Klarion. "If we could lure Klarion here, things would be easier. As it stands, this will be a dangerous mission for anyone with no magical knowledge."

"I don't care," Dick stared at his wedding ring, "This is my fault, and I'm going to fix it. I'm going to get my wife back." The computer buzzed with an incoming transmission.

"I have found a way to Witch World."

* * *

Right so, the link thing. I found these two amazing pictures of Klarion which is what I like to image he looked similar too at that point in the story.

art/The-Witchboy-Comes-298938291?q=boost%3Apopular%20Klarion&qo=167

art/Commission-Klarion-the-Witch-Boy-310093181?q=boost%3Apopular%20Klarion&qo=16


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9.**

**I don't think saying sorry for the delay will be enough :( I'm struggling to find the motivation to write but hoping to get at least one more , maybe two chapters out of this story.**

* * *

Dick paced nervously, occasionally adjusting the unfamiliar clothes he was wearing. Bruce had recommended a long black coat with a hood over some casual black pants and a shirt. Apparently a bright blue Nightwing logo and a mask might draw attention to him. He really felt naked without his mask diving into an otherworldly situation.

"You're showing all your fears on an open canvas right now," Bruce's voice snapped Dick from his pacing, causing him to scowl slightly. "I trained you better than that," Bruce's small smirk annoyed Dick, sending his right back to pacing. They were standing in a small, rarely used after dark, park just outside of Gotham. Dr. Fate had arranged the meeting place. It wasn't much longer before Dr. Fate appeared.

"You'll stand out a without a disguise," Bruce was already pulling a similar coat to the one Dick was wearing from a bag.

"That's won't be necessary, I will not be going to Witch World," Fate walked directly past an extremely confused Dick and began examining something that seemingly only he could see. Dick looked at Bruce who simply shrugged in response.

"What do you mean you won't be going? I thought that was the reason we were meeting here.." Dick stepped closer to Dr. Fate, attempting to see what he was doing. He was moving his hands slowly through the air with his eyes shut. Suddenly he stopped.

"You will be going, but you will be going alone. I have no inclination to put myself at great risk in Klarion's own domain," Dr. Fate spoke a few more words which Dick couldn't understand and a portal suddenly ripped open from nothingness. "I will remain here for five hours. If I sense you approach the portal I will open it again. After five hours, it is to dangerous to keep the portal active and I will have to close it."

"Put yourself at risk? Zatanna is over there, your daughter! She's in the hands of a mad man and you're giving me a time limit to go into some magical world on my own to try and rescue her?!" Dick's rage was building up again. Bruce quickly put a hand on Dick's shoulder, trying to get him to stand down. turned and stared coldly at Dick.

"She is not my daughter." He stepped to the side, allowing full access to the portal. "And from the best of my knowledge, she was _given_ to this mad man by _you_." He turned and looked at the portal once more as Dick contemplated his words. "Where you emerge in Witch World is where you need to return. Remember its location." Dick was standing ridged, his fists clenched and his jaw set tight. He had no choice. He shook Bruce's hand from his shoulder and took a step forward towards the portal. He had no idea what he was about to face but it was clear he had to face it alone.

"This is my mistake, and I intend to fix it. Five hours... In five hours my wife will be back with her family…" He took a quick glance at Bruce who simply nodded, but that nod said so much to Dick. Bruce would keep the twins safe is Dick didn't make it back. He would protect them and raise them with the help of Alfred and Tim. Dick took a deep breath, steadied himself, and took that final step through the portal to Witch World.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Klarion slinked into the room, moving carefully around the piles of broken furniture. I had heard Zatanna's screams and yells for hours accompanied by the all too familiar noise of destruction. She was curled defensively in the middle of the bed, which also had a large portion of it shattered.

"I really did like this furniture.." He narrowed his eyes, his familiar smirk spreading across his face. He cocked his head slightly and almost instantly Zatanna shot awake, biting back a yell of pain as the black marks on her skin flared red. Her eyes which were red and swollen from crying narrowed at the sight of him. "You know my pet, if you keep trashing the furniture, you will have to sleep on splinters," using his own magic, he levitated her across the room towards him, gradually releasing the pain he was inflicting on her. When she was close enough, he grabbed her by the neck, holding her at arm's length before him. She didn't struggle and even move against him but just continued to glare. The marks on her chest slowly subsided back to black as he fully released his control over her.

"I heard what your _visitors_ were saying earlier," A small smirk grew on her lips as she remembered the conversation she overheard earlier. She had spent at least two hours purposely breaking as many things in the room as she could with her newly discovered magical abilities. It had been a good way to vent her anger as well as get a grasp of her new power. She was moments away from firing an eldritch bolt at the bed when a loud chiming sounded throughout the house. She moved in the direction of the large door to the room, which had proven impossible to open or destroy and listened carefully. It turned out that houses in Witch World also had door bells, as angry voices could be heard from somewhere below the room Zatanna was in. She couldn't make out everything that was being said, but she could make out enough to know that the locals were not happy with Klarion.

_"Foolish giving one of her kind this power."_

_"It's unnatural."_

_"Return her to her dimension before she destroys ours!"_

She couldn't help but laugh at the anger growing on his face, knowing all too well she would suffer for it. "Lord of Chaos isn't as high and mighty as he thinks, getting scolded over little ol' me," She laughed again despite feeling Klarion's hand clenching slightly around her throat. She could sense his power rippling towards the surface, getting ready for use, and prepared to counter his attack. She had quickly learned to feel the movement of this form of magic, how to sense it and how it felt when it was used. Blowing up her current room had its uses. His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You've learned to control and sense your new magic already, impressive," He released his grip on her throat, "Trying to lure me into a rage so I can't sense that won't work. Don't forget Zatanna," He smirked and the marks on her chest started glowing red again. "We're on my turf now." He waiting until he felt her prepared attack fade from fighting the pain of his control before grabbing her roughly and pulling her close. He looked down, taking pleasure in the obvious pain she was enduring. He focused harder, her markings were practically glowing red. A small whimper escaped her lips at last. He released his control over her and she collapsed in his arms.

"Please…please stop doing that," Zatanna cringed at the weakness in her own voice. It was pathetic. She was fully set on attack Klarion and here she was begging him not to hurt her.

"Do you think I enjoy hurting you?" His voice was soft as he tilted her head up to look at him. For a moment she thought he may be sincere until he smirked and whispered, "Because it turns out I actually do." He grabbed her face and kissed her quickly and forcefully before flinging her back onto the half broken bed. "You know what I enjoy more though."

Zatanna waited until he left the room before screaming in a mixture of rage and pain. She needed to find a way to stop him being able to inflict pain upon her so easily. She pulled herself from the bed and found a large enough piece of broken mirror to look at her reflection. She ran a finger along the one of the markings, from her neck down her chest towards her breast. There had to be something, anything. They were created by magic, meaning they could be destroyed by magic.

"What are you..." She found herself mumbling aloud, while circling a spot on her neck. She knew that had been where one of the original bite marks had been.

_"I infected you with it a long time ago." _

Everything clicked in Zatanna's mind. She was _infected_ with chaos. It was dominating her natural magic. It was corroding her and polluting her. The more she used it the more the chaos would grow, and there was only one real way to beat chaos and that was with order.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Dick kept to the shadows as he studied the people in this strange world. He had been excepting everything to appear extremely dark and evil, but life here seemed rather normal. The only strange thing was the unusual blue tint in the people's skin and how they dressed. Everything was very formal or old fashioned. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but luckily people with long black hooded coats didn't seem out of place. Bruce Wayne 1, Witch world 0. He stooped slightly and started walking slowly through the people, keeping his face down and listening carefully to conversations around him, hoping to hear mention of Klarion or Zatanna.

"Coraline blew up a cup the other day,"

"She's really progressing in magic, I wish my Thadeus was as gifted with magic."

"Nonsense, we all have a little magic, but you've seen what happens to those who go power crazy, besides I'm sick of having to buy new cups!"

Nothing. He would be too suspicious if he lingered by their conversation for too long. Almost two hours had passed and he had yet to find any clues about Zatanna's location. He's certainly discovered a lot about Witch World. Children went to school here, adults went to work. They had elected officials, but apparently the strongest black magic users abused their position and power to control people as they pleased. Dick was getting desperate. He wanted to find Zatanna with enough time to spare to get back to the portal, which would take about 30 minutes from where he was.

_'Maybe I should just reveal myself...' _His hand slipped into his pocket and he ran his finger along the outline of his mask. Surely if someone from another dimension appeared in the town square there would be a little panic, or at least enough commotion to attract Klarion's attention.

"Such a fool infecting the mortal girl like that…" Dick let go of the mask, turning to try and find the source of the conversation. One man was stopped, staring at two others. Dick watch as their conversation appeared to become more heated. Many people were stopping and listening to the men talking, so Dick dared to creep a little closed.

"She will be the death of us!"

"Corvus is right friend. Klarion used his powers as a Lord of Chaos, not as a witch, to turn this mortal," The man on the right said, gesturing to the previous speaker, Corvus.

"She's no mere mortal either, she's a Homo Magi. She already holds so much power." Corvus shook his head. As the two men spoke to the other, he appeared to become bluer. His eyes resembled Klarion's whenever he was angry. Small and red.

"You both are fools! You expected to challenge a Lord of Chaos?" He gestured behind him, towards a large house, perhaps the largest of all the houses Dick had seen here, sitting just off the town square.

_'Should have guessed...'_ Suddenly, as Dick was staring at the house, a thunderous explosion erupted and a portion of the house suddenly crumbled, smoke filling the air. A figure appeared in the air above the house. The explosion had caused tremors to ripple through the ground, sending people in the square running and screaming. Dick braced himself before he noticed that the three men had cast some sort of spell, levitating as many people as they could about half a foot off the ground.

"It's already started Demetri, he won't be able to control her for much longer," The three men stared in dismay at the house. The smoked was clearing and the damage became clear. A large chunk of the house had been blown away, as if some giant creature had taken a bite out of it. A small figure could be seen staring up at the figure in the air.

"There is nothing we can do except get as many people to safety as we can. Their power is even beyond ours." Demetri lowered his hands and the people in the square softly touched down on the now still ground. Dick was about to take off at a sprint towards the house when the figure in the house fired two large black bolts at the other figure in the air, which just about managed to dodge the first, and block the other.

_'Klarion's magic is normally red.'_ He pulled out his mask and put it on, increasing the zoom in his lenses. The figure in the house was Zatanna. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips before he took a closer look. She was in a torn up red dress and had blood dripping down her arms. She was paler than Dick had ever seen her and her hair was tossed and wild. There were two strange marks running from her neck down her chest which were bright red and appeared to be pulsing. He watched as a wicked grin spread across her lips and she launched herself into the air. He followed her movement and saw her hurl two large black balls of energy at Klarion. That's when Dick noticed the panic and fear on Klarion's face. He easily repelled the first blast, but staggered and fell from the air momentarily when the second hit. Zatanna was beating him. He took off at a sprint towards them, no longer caring for concealment.


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm so so so so so so sorry I have had the worst writers block in history of all my writers block but here is a small update for you all!**

**Did I mention I was sorry? ;-; really I am! Also, I wrote this on the bus, and didn't proof read ¬¬ Cause I felt you guys needed it ASAP!**

**Love ya'll**

* * *

Klarion wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand. He hadn't expected Zatanna's attack to be as powerful as it was. He hadn't expected her to become this powerful.

'_It must be her natural magic mutating..' _He was cursing himself for ignoring his elders. Like they knew anything, he thought, I'm the Lord of Chaos, I know best. How wrong he had been. Before his very eyes Zatanna's powers had manifested, exploding from her in a fit of pure rage, destroying half of his home. He stared at the advancing woman. Her Raven hair was tossed, her blue eyes wide, giving her maniacal grin an even creepier effect. Blood was dripping down her arms from injuries sustained in the explosion, but neither seemed to be bothering her. The red dress that he had longed to see her in was burnt, ripped, torn, and blood stained.

"Klarion, my sweet," Her voice was still soft, musical nearly, and alluring. Klarion had to remind himself that the Zatanna he loved was probably gone. She stopped not far from him, her hand extended towards him. "I thought you loved playing games," She laughed as four eldritch bolts shot from her finger tips towards him. Before he could react, something crashed into him, knocking him to the ground.

"I'm not used to saving the bad guy, but right now it looks like you need all the help you can get," Dick grabbed Klaion's arm and pushed him behind a half destroyed wall as another eldritch bolt crashed over their heads. "Now," Dick's fist clenched inches from Klarion's face, "Care to tell me what you've done to my wife?!"

"I, uh-" Klarion stuttered, unable to get anything to make sense. Here, saving his life, was the man who he had tormented for years. The man whose life he tried to destroy, and nearly did.

"Oh Dickie Darling," Zatanna's voice sang out from behind the wall, "I was wondering when you were going to show up!" A hint of aggression could be heard in her voice, and moments later a particularly large blast shook the wall. Klarion and Dick jumped back just as the wall came crumbling down. "Change your mind or something?" Zatanna appeared in front of Dick, pushing Klarion aside with one arm and punching Dick with enough force to knock him off his feet.

"Zee, I made a mistake," Dick jumped back to his feet, shocked at the transformation of Zatanna. He stood ready, he wouldn't be caught off guard again. "I shouldn't have let him take you, I know that." For a moment he thought he had gotten through to her. She was shaking, her head was bowed, and her hair was covering her face.

"Dick, Dick, Dick," She looked up, and let out the laugh she had be holding in, "I can't believe you thought it would be THAT easy!" She fired two large eldritch blast directly at him. One caught him in the shoulder, knocking him back against a wall, while the other clipped his leg, putting him off balance for just a moment. A moment was all it took for Zatanna to appear in front of him, knock him to the ground and pin him with abnormal strength. Her finger tips dug into his shoulder and felt like they were on fire.

"YOU GAVE ME TO HIM LIKE A PIECE OF MEAT!" Her face was contorted with rage. "You... You did this to me!" Dick flinched as she punched him across the face. He was able to smell slight burning flesh now, and noticed the skin against the odd marks on her chest was red and blistering from the intense heat coming from the markings. A red eldritch blast knocked Zatanna off Dick, just as she aimed another punch at him.

"This way!" Klarion shouted, waving Dick over to him. "I don't know what happened but I've lost control of her," Klarion spoke quickly as they ran up the stairs, a cry of anger ringing out from below.

"What do you mean you've lost control of her?!" Dick yelled, diving quickly into a room and barricading the door. A very dangerous looking Zatanna was slowly climbing the stairs after them, and they clearly needed a plan of action. Using his magic, Klarion flung nearly every object in the room against the door.

"It won't stop her, but it should give us-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Dick's fist was throbbing, his knuckles split from the force of punching Klarion. He was running out of time to save Zatanna and get back to their own dimension, he didn't have time to waste.

"The markings, on her skin," Klarion glared at Dick, wiping blood from his mouth. He didn't want to help him, but he knew it was the only way he could save his own neck. "I infected Zatanna with chaos, planted the seeds so to say, which have grown. It was my magic, I could control it, and I could control her." He smirked, forgetting the situation for a moment. A crash from outside the room brought his attention back to the conversation. "Something went wrong, now I have no control over her, and I don't think she has control of herself either." Klarion ducked, barely avoiding Dick's fist.

"I should have let her kill you!" Dick gritted his teeth, and took a deep steadying breath. Killing Klarion was not the answer. It would rid him of a nuisance for sure, but it wouldn't fix this. "Can you retract the chaos?" Dick glanced at the make-shift barricade. It wasn't going to last much longer. The smaller objects were already falling away and the larger were beginning to cave under the pressure of Zatanna's assault. Klarion looked deep in thought.

"Nope," He shrugged and smirked, "But Nabu can." It was like a punch in the gut to Dick. If he had turned to Doctor Fate in the first place, none of this would be happening. Klarion knew that. Zatanna knew that. Bruce knew that. He was the only fool who didn't, and now he needed Nabu more than ever.

"There is a portal," Dick was tentative, he didn't want to give Klarion too much information. "If we get her there, I can bring her back to my world and get Doctor Fate." Klarion's smirk was spreading. Dick knew he wouldn't be able to resist attacking Doctor Fate. They were locked in what seemed like an endless battle between Chaos and Order, and Klarion didn't care who got in the way, or who suffered. Another crash, louder than the last few, sent objects flying around the room as the doors burst open. Zatanna was standing in the door way, panting heavily. She had used a lot of magic to blast through the door and it was taking its toll on her body. She glared at Dick, her brain barely registering that Klarion was even in the room, cowering in the corner.

"You gave me away," She moved slowly, objects around her flinging themselves in Dick's direction. "You chose two little brats over me, your wife." Her eyes, normally so blue, were getting increasingly darker and the whites of her eyes were bloodshot. Dick was carefully dodging the flying objects, while trying to focus on Zatanna.

"No Zatanna , you chose them," Dick was really afraid he had lost his wife this time. "You chose their lives over your own! You chose to leave me!" He didn't realise he had started yelling. He could feel the tears threatening to blur his vision and fought them back. He had to stay strong, he had to get her to the portal.

"LIES!" Zatanna's scream was followed by an onslaught of Eldritch blasts, haphazardly flung around the room. A yelp from the corner drew her attention to Klarion for a moment, before turning back to Dick. Pain shot through her body as a fist collided with her face, knocking her back. Even more pain followed as Dick accidentally touched the markings on her chest. A shockwave of burning heat rippled through her body. She could hear Dick's yelling above her own scream. His hands were blistering from the slightest touch.

"Do something!" Dick yelled at Klarion. He approached the nearly unconscious, screaming Zatanna with caution. "Hurry, we're running out time." He could see Dick wrapping something around his burnt hands. He was right. They were running out of time, but not for the portal. It wouldn't be long before Zatanna's body would destroy itself from the chaos.

"Fine, fine, lets rush the only person who can help you," Klarion mumbled in annoyance. He extended his hands above Zatanna and focused. He was drained from his fight with her earlier. A large red orb started to form around her, slowly, struggling against her instinctive defenses. "This won't hold for long. Where is this _portal _of yours located?" Dick was unable to see the malicious smile plastered across Klarion's face.

"South, near an old clock tower." Klarion was already levitating the orb out of the room before Dick finished his sentence. They had an hour before the portal would close and it was at least a forty minute walk back.


	11. Chapter 11

******Have I ever mentioned how I'm so so so so so so so so so sorry that I've got writers block? I wish I could get this out faster but I'm really in a rut! I'm gonna start asking you guys for help soon :P All reviews help here! I've put out a message on my tumblr asking for any form of prompts or even a brain storming session or discussion on whats happened so far? Not really sure if it will help but here's hoping it will! Even what you might like to happen in the next chapter or two could be helpful. Also I was attempting to get the stories up on tumblr for more Chalant fans to read :)**

**Again, Sorry for the delay, sorry it's so short! **

* * *

"We need to pick up the pace," Dick said while scouting around a corner. It had taken them nearly twenty minutes to get only a few blocks away from Klarions now destroyed home. It was becoming increasingly difficult to dodge the concerned and angry citizen rushing towards the now silent house.

"That's easy for you to say," Klarion snarled, "I mean I could drop my focus and let her loose again if that's what you really want." He was staring at the once again conscious Zatanna who was pounding against the inside of her magical prison. "She may not be able to use her magic in there, but it doesn't mean I can sustain it with ease." Beads of sweat were clearly visible on his brow.

"Okay, I get it, but we need to move faster. There's only forty minutes left," Dick signaled it was clear and moved around the corner, not realizing he had given away yet another important piece of information to Klarion. The portal would close in forty minutes. For just a moment, as the chaos subsided inside her, Zatanna stared at Klarion as the malicious grin spread across his face and remembered that somewhere deep down, she feared him.

**-0-0-0-0-**

"Twenty minutes left, and then I must close the portal." Doctor Fate kept his back to Bruce, who was beginning to pace. He knew Bruce would try to persuade him to keep the portal open just a little longer. Ten minutes, then perhaps another five. It was difficult enough battling with Giovanni internally, he didn't need to argue with Bruce too. Bruce took a deep breath.

"I understand the dangers," Bruce stared at the portal entrance considering ways to convince Doctor Fate to keep the portal open longer. He sighed and gave up. Dick knew he had a time limit, and he also knew he now had responsibility to his sons. He would make it back through the portal if he was still alive, with or without Zatanna, as heartbreaking as that would be. "And so does Dick. He'll make it back. He has to."

"If he doesn't return with Zatanna, there are… other magic users who will be able to help your grandchildren," Giovanni's softer tones touched Doctor Fate's speech.

"I appreciate the thought, but right now, I have to believe Dick will bring Zatanna back to us all," Bruce glanced at his watch. There was only fifteen minutes left. Dick was cutting it very close, too close for comfort

**-0-0-0-0-**

"Klarion move it! We only have five minutes," Dick was practically screaming. He wanted to grab Zatanna and run for the portal. He was able to see it from here. Klarion was, however, the only one who could transport her given her current chaotic rage. Hopefully Doctor Fate would be able to control her once he crossed through the portal. He stopped and stared at the portal. How was he going to get Zatanna through without Klarion.

"Did anyone ever tell you how annoying an angry little bird chirping in your ear for forty minutes is?" Klarion growled. He was struggling with every step now. He could tap into the energy he reserved for after the crossing and upcoming battle, or release Zatanna, hoping they could just drag her through the portal. He was able to see the portal clearly now, as well as Fate waiting on the other side. "You know Dickie bird, Fate won't let me cross, meaning I will have to release Zatanna."

"I know, I've been trying to find a way around that," Dick walked over to the portal and stared through. "If you can hear me, we're here, we just have a slight problem." He glanced back at Zatanna. She was too strong right now for him to physically over power and Klarion was certainly looking like he was struggling. Dick turned back to the portal and spoke quick and quietly. "Klarion is with me. He infected Zatanna and the chaos is taking over her, its destroying her body, eating her alive." He saw Doctor Fate turn his head to stare at Klarion and Zatanna, then back to Dick. He took it as a sign he could be heard. "Klarion is weak, he fought with Zatanna. I need his help to get her through the portal. You could easily beat him in this state, heck I'd love to get a few more punches in myself, but we can't abandon Zatanna. "

Dick could see Bruce, now suited up as Batman, move towards the portal.

"Doctor Fate," Batman spoke quietly, but Dick could still hear him, "It's dangerous but a danger I believe we must be willing to risk."

"Klarion is not the reason I am hesitant Batman," Doctor Fate spoke and glanced again at Zatanna, "I can sense very little of Zatanna left in her mind. The chaos may have damaged more than just her body, or it may be that she has been suppressed, but I fear what may happen if we bring her back to our world."

Dick took a step closer to the portal, a sense of panic spreading through him. It made sense, the things she was saying and how she attacked him, but he refused to believe his wife could potentially be gone from her own mind.

"No, she's in there Fate," He took after glance over his shoulder, "She is, I can feel it. You can save her."

"I will take this risk and allow her to travel through the portal," Doctor Fate spoke more to Batman than to Dick, "But I will not be held responsible for anything that occurs once she has returned. I cannot guarantee my ability to repair the damage inflicted upon her. I cannot, however, willing let a Lord of Chaos loose in our realm."

**-0-0-0-0-**

Zatanna was staring intently at Klarion. The markings on her neck, which had returned to black while in her prison, were starting to pulse red again. There was barely any blue visible in her eyes anymore, and the whites of her eyes were completely bloodshot. Klarion narrowed his eye's and stared at his prize. To him, that's what she truly was. A smirk spread across his face as a sly smile spread on hers as Dick continued his hushed discussion through to the portal trying to find a way to 'save' her. Teekl crept up behind Klarion, leaping onto his shoulder. He was preparing to cross dimensions.

_'Zatanna my dear, stop that,' _Klarion spoke directly into Zatanna's mind, feeling her trying to resist his magic again. He regained some control when the idiot bird boy touched her marks. Somehow he had cause the chaos's influence over Zatanna to lessen, but Klarion had no intention of sharing this information. _'We're going to play a little game my beloved. We're going to cross dimensions, and you can have your sweet revenge, but you must promise me something.'_

_'I know how you love playing game my sweet,' _ The smirk on Zatanna's face spread as she glanced around at her husband. She could now see the portal which was becoming clearer and the figure of Doctor Fate standing on the other side. _'What promise do you want me to make you Witch boy.' _Her eyes were narrowed now. The chaos inside her was confusing her memories. Doctor Fate, Nabu, he was her father, yet he stole her father. He was order, and she was becoming chaos. Her natural magic was crying out for his help but the chaos was screaming to kill.

_'They all gave you up for those brats my beloved, I need you to promise you will remember that and play along with my game.'_

Dick stood with his back to the portal facing Klarion and his imprisoned wife. He had to come up with a plan.

"Klarion, move her near the portal." Dick still wasn't sure how he would get Zatanna through the portal, he just needed her closer, and Klarion further away. "Now move back, then release her."

"No please, no thank you," Klarion's smirk spread revealed pointed teeth. He moved Zatanna so she was inches in front of Dick. "Alas with this level of fatigue," Klarion stepped back about two meters, "This will have to be far enough for you." He smirked, watching the back of Dick's legs from Teekl's eyes, poised and ready to strike.

Zatanna turned to face Dick, one fist slamming up against her magical prison. Her grin verged on maniacal. He took a deep breath and stepped towards his wife. She looked savage, barely recognisable.

"Release her."

"My pleasure," Klarion laughed, releasing his hold on Zatanna's prison. As the bubble around her vanished, Zatanna crashed to the ground, catching herself on one knee. Dick leapt forward , grabbing her arms and pulling her into a standing position. He took a deep breath, noticing the pulsing red marks on her skin and pulled her close to him, holding her tight. Her scream drowned out his yell of pain as the marks burned their way through his clothes, searing into his skin. He took a step backwards, pulling the struggling screaming Zatanna with him. The portal was only a few more step away now.

"Hold on Zee," He whispered, more to himself than to her.

"BEHIND YOU!" He could barely make out Batman's warning shout. Teekl had mutated into his beast form and stepped between Dick and the portal, snarling.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Klarion's laughter was suddenly the only thing Dick could hear. He looked over at the Lord of Chaos, no longer looking fatigued or weak. He tricked him again. "It's very typical of you Dickie bird, to overlook the obvious when Zatanna is involved." Teekl bit the back of Dick's leg, causing him to release Zatanna. He couldn't cope with the burning pain any longer. He pulled an escrima from a hidden pocket quickly, knocking the familiar away with easy. Suddenly everything felt distant, as if Dick had slowed down compared to the rest of the world. He could see Batman grab Doctor Fate's arm through the portal.

"No Fate! Don't close it!" Batman's voice was barely audible.

"It is too dangerous!"

"Oh Dick my love," Zatanna's hands grabbed Dick by the ragged cloth around his chest, her nailed scratching against the blistering burning flesh, causing him to cry out in pain. "Let's go see our babies!" With a shocking amount of strength, she launched herself and Dick back through the portal, closely followed by Teekl and Klarion to Doctor Fate's dismay.

Klarion phased the moment he got through the portal, appearing behind Doctor Fate and Batman. His familiar launched himself at Batman while Klarion shot multiple eldritch bolts at Doctor Fate. A blinding flash of golden light filled Dick's eye's as Fate countered the attack. He pulled himself to his feet, struggling through his pain.

"Nightwing," Batman was suddenly at his side, helping him stand, "Klarion had it planned the whole time, where are they going?" He shook Dick slightly in panic, "Dick, where would he take her here? Doctor Fate is gone for help, you have to think."

Dick's mind was racing. Everything had happened so suddenly he didn't even have time to think.

_Let's go see our babies_

"The boys…"


End file.
